biting please help!!

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hello,
can anyone tell me how to train out bad behaviour?
i have a pol chook i have for a couple of months and it's always been really friendly and likes to have cuddles a real lap chook. any who, it has seriously taken against my 2year old. and keeps biting her it literally runs at her and bit anything it can get hold of and really hard not like when they peck you like there eating. it opens it's beak really wide and goes for her.

bella(my daughter) is really good with animals of all kinds and has never hurt them she even gives them there corn in the afternoons. but now she's terrified and just cries if they come near her.

at the moment i just having to keep between them and push the chook away from her.

help how do i stop this?
 
Hi Kat pink,
that is a tough one,personally,I would keep this particular chook shut in so she can't attack your daughter and see about re-homing her.Although,you have probably already considered this option.I'm not sure on the best way to deal with this,if your daughter was older,I would suggest that she stands up to the chook,makes direct eye contact with the chook and stare it out.Maybe adopt a chicken stance,slightly bent at the waist,arms outstretched slighty like a chook higher up in the flock pecking order.As your daughter is only 2yrs though,and the chook has already bullied her I don't think this is suitable.I also don't know if it would work.
Hopefully,someone with a lot more experience than me will have some better ideas.I think if she starts laying soon,her temperment will improve,but,it sounds as if she has already focused on bullying your daughter.I would re-home her(not Bella-the chook :D ).
 
the chook in question is so friendly normally i hadn't even considered rehoming her.

i didn't think about the pecking order my daughter might think pretending to be a chook quite good fun anyway, so i may try it.
 
Something else I thought off,but once again i don't know if it would work,when your daughter is outside with the chooks,get her to carry a bucket of water.She can put it on the ground and if the naughty chook misbehaves Bella tip the bucket of water over the chook.Not hard or aggressively but soak the chook.This might take her mind off attacking Bella.
Also,the Domestic Fowl Trust sells little rings that stops chooks from biting/pecking,they are very cheap and are attached to the chooks beak.Maybe it would be worth getting one or two,putting one on your chook so she can't peck Bella hard.Then encourage the chook to sit on Bella's lap and be fussed.The chook needs to learn that Bella is safe and nice to have around.For some reason this chook is looking at Bella as a threat to her and probably the rest of the flock.
 
Hmmm. Sounds tricky to me and I'm afraid I would rehome the chook. Some can get aggressive and I would say you wouldn't want your daughter to have bad experiences now or she may be scared of chickens later on in life.

I have only had one breed that used to peck and that was a light sussex, even though normally they are quite placid.
 
As she's pol,could it be hormonal and might settle down once she's laying?
Although I do think re-homing might be the best answer,or at least not free ranging so she can harm Bella whenever she feels like it.
 
Lydia said:
As she's pol,could it be hormonal and might settle down once she's laying?
Click to expand...

It's hard to say what's going on for sure and I havent had many agressive birds but the ones I have had haven't changed even with food treats...
 
Hopefully i'll never get one then,had a rabbit once that hated me,always attacked me but was ok with my ex-hubby and son thank-god.
It sounds almost like jealousy,as if the chook is jealous of Bella so is trying to drive her away.She doesn't accept treats from Bella,not that i'm sure rewarding bad behaviour with a treat is a good idea.

how is it going Kat?
 
all the chooks seem a bit fractious at the moment i think they might be bored, so i'm trying to give them more to do.
it's definatly a pecking order thing coz to everyone else it's really friendly, i think that it might be about thrid in the list with the other chooks as it's not laying but isn't the youngest. of my six chook only the one that bites and one other manage to free range although all of them could if they wanted to, maybe if the others come out it would have more to think about and wouldn't notice bella.

i don't want to rehome it if i can help as it is the friendlest one the other have no interest in us at all, typical really. i'm hoping that when it starts to lay things might change, it is also better behaved when the cock from next door comes over.
 
That sounds about right,cockerels do keep hens in order.
The biggest problem is your daughter's age,as she's young she will be hurt more by the chook because her skin isn't as tough.
Distracting the chook could work well,just not sure what would work,my 4 are very curious but being ex-batts probably do not always display typical chicken behaviour.
All you can do is moniter it,and if you can't supervise,shut that particular chook in the run or something whilst Bella is playing or something.Good luck with it,I can fully understand your reluctance to re-home the chook.None of us want Bella to be hurt or frightened either,which is exactly what you want as well.

Would it be worth contacting the person you bought them from for any advice? I realise that dogs,cats etc are different,but any person who has bought either a puppy from me,or a dog that i have fostered is always welcome to contact me.Tim doesn't keep agressive chooks,but maybe someone who has can help or advise you more.I feel there must be some old tips on dealing with problems like this,it's just a case of finding them.
Good luck and keep us posted.
 
A few years back I had a pure white leghorn that used to bite. If I was in the run bending down to change the water or something, she would fly up and perch on my shoulder and then peck my back several times, it used to hurt too! The rest of the time she was quite tame - I had her from a chick, so I don't know where her strange behaviour came from. :?
 
so it isn't that unusual then,did you manage to break your leghorn of this habit Jani? Or did you just stand up quick or something to deter her????
 
we have been in the garden with the chook in question with no incidents bella taken to wear huge gloves abd clapping at it and i have spent time putting it in its place by pushing it occasionally(hasten to add gently) it did get a bit vocal but didn't do anything else.

a chicken from next door has fallen into my garden and can't back out but its hiding my hens are consered and not coming out. haha it never been handled so you can't catch it. oh well
 
Hi check that your daughter is not wearing any dangly jewelry of bright coloured laces, my warrens (supposedly the most docile of hens) love laces and anything dangling to peck at
 
the hen in question only tries to bite her bare skin but did steal a hairband today and run away it was sparkley.
mine all love toes nails especially painted ones i'm normally bare foot but now have to wear boots when in the garden or risk a pecking.

arn't they funny i don't think anyone who didn't keep them would believe the mad little lifes they lead. they would think we all made it up. lol :lol:
 
Tori

yes its true chickens turn you into nutters but they are so funny, the topography of my garden is such that i cant build a pond for my original love of fish keeping but i get the same relaxing result just sitting and watching them. I have dug over a part of the garden to plant some veg and the chickens ( i have 4 warrens at POL and 2 baby 10 week old warrens) come out and help me with the weeping and worm removal they also jump on the compost heap and scratch it all up. I am looking forward to getting some white hens soon but cant decide which ones to keep

regards

Scuffer
 
kat.pink said:
we have been in the garden with the chook in question with no incidents bella taken to wear huge gloves abd clapping at it and i have spent time putting it in its place by pushing it occasionally(hasten to add gently) it did get a bit vocal but didn't do anything else.

a chicken from next door has fallen into my garden and can't back out but its hiding my hens are consered and not coming out. haha it never been handled so you can't catch it. oh well
Click to expand...

:D that's brilliant Kat,I'm really plsed.A big well done to Bella as well,hopefully the chook is learning better behaviour with Bella.

so you've acquired a new chook(from next door)you'll have to get Bella to persuade it out of hiding,poor thing it must be a bit shell shocked(oops-didn't mean that naff punn)hopefully it will feel a bit braver soon.
 
Lydia said:
so it isn't that unusual then,did you manage to break your leghorn of this habit Jani? Or did you just stand up quick or something to deter her????
Click to expand...

I think I just lifted her off once she started pecking my back, she was OK on the ground. :lol: I used to have another chook that was a mix of leghorn/orpington and some other breed - but she was huge, nearly the size of a barred rock and when I used to be raking out the run she would peck at my legs until I picked her up and stroked her. She was so tame, lived to be about 8 years old.
 
My chicken Cheepy does attack my dogs if they annoy her,but so far hasn't attacked me or my son,thank-god.yesterday,when i let the chooks out they were happily tucking into their food and water.Which I now place outside their run to encourage Chicky to venture outside of wire(they are all ex-batts)and Bonnie,my smallest terrier went into their run to see if their was some chicken food inside it she could scrounge.....I try very hard to discourage the dogs from hanging around the chickens run and hen house eating chicken food, but for Bonnie,food is tooo tempting.Before I could blink Cheepy ran back into the run and attacked her.Hackles up,wings slightly up pecked poor Bonnie whilst jumping up and raking her with her claws in a forward kick.I've only ever seen a cockerel do this before,but,it is very effective towards Bonnie who ran in the house as fast as her little legs would carry her.None of the other dogs go into the run if Cheepy is close, they know not to,but it is obviously going to take Bonnie a bit longer......

Bet it was slightly painfull to have a leghorn on your back Jani pecking,at least she stopped when she was on the ground.Your orpington/leghorn mix sounds lovely,greeting you by reminding you to pick her up for a cuddle :lol: ,just in case you forgot :o .
 
so you've acquired a new chook(from next door)you'll have to get Bella to persuade it out of hiding,poor thing it must be a bit shell shocked(oops-didn't mean that naff punn)hopefully it will feel a bit braver soon.[/quote]

well i managed to catch this lost hen ot got stuck between the wall and the compost bin which is smooth plastic, it was tring to climbe up it. becuase it hasn't been handled when i picked i up it went mental but clamed down when i out it back on the wall with her friends.
the reason it fell over the wall was becuase they roost in an elder tree which overlaps the two gardens but dave next door cut it down probably to stop them but coz there hens lol they're trying to sleep on the stump , about ten of them.lol

off the garden today (if the weather holds out) we will see what happens.
 
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