# B!thcy Hen!



## mcchicken (Mar 24, 2013)

So my inexperience with raising chickens has got the best of me! I mentioned once before one of my girls ( who I thought was possibly a roo) was a little aggressive towards me. She waits until I turn my back and charges at me. Yesterday drew the line for me when she squared of to my son charged him and pecked his leg really hard. Any suggestions as to how to handle this. She is definitely the lowest in the pecking order. Which may be the reason why she tries to square off to us. But if I caught her yesterday I might of kicked her like a soccer ball. I don't want to be ignorant and beat the chicken if there are some other approaches in dealing with her......any suggestions.


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## ShowBarnMom (Jul 12, 2013)

My understanding is with aggressive Roos, you pick them up and tuck them under your arm till they are calm as you walk around. Then you put them down. Maybe trying this with her? I have a hen that pecks at toes, but not aggressively. Everyone squats when I walk up to them. Good luck!


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## Apyl (Jun 20, 2012)

Lowest in the pecking order has nothing to do with what your hen is doing. Personally I have ZERO tolerance for aggressive birds. They have claws and sharp beaks and I am not going to have an issue with one going after my kids. Any aggressive member of my flock get butchered and set for dinner.


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## mcchicken (Mar 24, 2013)

I like it apyl! I am new to this. So I am opened for suggestions. I have other pets. And deal with them accordingly when they are misbehaved. Although chickens seem a little bit different then other animals. More dumb maybe. Lol. I really didn't like the way it charged at my three year old. He was running by and it squared off puffed up and struck out and pecked him hard on the leg. I chased it with a shovel but wasn't able to get to her.


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## camel934 (Sep 9, 2012)

I agree with Apyl! Cull the bird.


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## Bee (Jun 20, 2013)

With a rooster, this type of behavior would be considered normal and could be trained right out of him....but this is not normal for a hen. 

I strenuously cull any hens that are unnaturally aggressive towards humans or other flock members...and I have found these are often lower level birds of certain breeds~one of which are Wyandottes, they are notoriously aggressive and I've had to cull them out of each flock I've ever had them in. 

They don't socialize well within the flock matrix and they are crabby birds with less than a stellar laying, so they are first on the list. 

It's natural for there to be some pecking at each other in the flock around food so that the order is maintained, but to attack a human or another bird just to be doing so is a death knell for any hen of mine.


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## mcchicken (Mar 24, 2013)

She is a red mix the other two she came with are fabulous but this one has issues









That's her on the left. Do u think its a roo?


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## mcchicken (Mar 24, 2013)

Then again she is developing a little later than the other two hens, they have combs already and are laying. I bet she's just a b!tch. I'm gathering if it were a roo it would have a bigger comb than the girls, no?


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## Bee (Jun 20, 2013)

It's a production red ...they are usually very friendly and calm.


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## hennypenny68 (Apr 30, 2013)

I have those and have never had a nasty one when I approach them they actually squat for for me if I had a hen that was nasty like that I would deff be culling I don't put up with the Roos I wouldn't put up with a hen.


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## DixieBee (Apr 18, 2013)

Agreed, its a production red, usually very calm and docile.
I also agree, she would be slathered with bbq sauce on the grill tonight.


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## kessy09 (Jun 16, 2013)

I strenuously cull any hens that are unnaturally aggressive towards humans or other flock members...and I have found these are often lower level birds of certain breeds~one of which are Wyandottes, they are notoriously aggressive and I've had to cull them out of each flock I've ever had them in.

They don't socialize well within the flock matrix and they are crabby birds with less than a stellar laying, so they are first on the list.

I'm finding this with my Wyandotte. At first, he/she was very lovely to us but terrible to the other chicks. They've been moved into the big coop now from their brooded box and she's really started picking on them. Chases everyone around and bruised my little wheaten Marans roosters beak. Last night when I went to close the coop door she charged at me and tried to peck my hand when I went to push her away. I've been trying to make her move every time I go but she usually just gets pushed because she won't give up her ground. I still have no confirmation on whether its a roo or not... Although she's got really large comb/wattles she has a very clear lacing pattern on her back (everything I've read/seen said the Roos back isn't really laced) and all her hackle/tail feathers are round. They are almost seven weeks old now.


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## Bee (Jun 20, 2013)

I've only found one good use for a Wyandotte...to train young pups on chickens!


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## ShowBarnMom (Jul 12, 2013)

See my Wyandotte isn't that bad. She's quite cuddly. Although my best hen is a speckled Sussex.


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## kessy09 (Jun 16, 2013)

Hmm, well I was having a lot of drama from my Wyandotte roo picking on my Marans roo. They are 7 weeks old now and among the two of them is a 7 week old olive egger hen. The Wyandotte was really pushy and aggressive with him in the brooder box and wouldn't let him eat and as consequence of that he was very teeny. I moved them out to their big coop/run three days ago and the tables have turned. I feel like the Marans has gotten huge in three days and I witnessed a little rooster fight-the Marans chased down the Wyandotte (who is still double his size) and made his comb bleed! The Wyandotte sat in the corner with his head down in the sand like an ostrich for ages. For the rest of the evening I observed them
and the Marans is doing rooster duties-he shuffled the hen over to where I put some beet leaves and shuffled her into the coop when it got dark. He wouldn't let the Wyandotte near her. Is this normal for 7 weeks? The Wyandotte has huge size compared so why put up with it? I don't know who I'm rooting for--and I read I shouldn't intervene. At what age do roosters need to be separated? I guess just observe and separate if it gets overly combative? I wasn't expecting this until six months or so.


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## Bluerooster (Jan 19, 2013)

Same way with games as well. any unusually aggressive bird gets culled. (hen or roo)
But I will give them a chance, by trying to calm them for a while.
Now I have had a couple pet hens, that will sneak up and give you a light flog if you have the feed bucket
and haven't fed her yet. Same hen layed, set, and hatched in the kids bedroom. Kinda like a potty trined dog,
would ask to come in, and let you know when she needed to go out.


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