# My hens bite me



## Cinnabar456 (Sep 17, 2014)

Okay, so, I have 2 RIR hens and 3 PBR hens. All of them bite me. This is not investigative nibbling, this is wing flapping, blood drawing, flying from the other end of the coop just to come after me kind of biting. The RIR's are not as bad as the rocks but I'm scared to go into the coop to clean or do anything. I hand raised them from 3 days old, I played with them, held them, talked to them and even now, I sit outside the coop and watch them, chat with them etc. (I just do it from the safety of the outside of the run). I have never hand fed them treats or anything. (maybe that's why? I didn't want them to get the idea that my hand was part of their treat). I just don't understand why they are so vicious with me. I chose these 2 breeds because they were recommended because they are supposed to be docile.

Any ideas on why they are all so mean and what can I do to stop it? I had heard that you can pin them to the ground until they stop struggling (gentle but firm) but I can never catch them, they take a chunk out of me and run away, plus when there are 5 of them doing it, it's kind of scary and I really just feel the need to get the heck out of there!


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

That's a new one to me. Do you know who the top bird in the flock is? That's the bird I would make an effort to catch up and carry around a couple of times a day. Just make it a quiet thing once you have her in your arms and she calms down. Pet her, talk to her. And I wonder if all the hand rearing might have something to do with it. They see you as a walking treat. 

Wear gloves and long sleeves. Its possible once you get the head bird to accept you the others will follow. If not, it might be time to start a new flock.

BTW, have you ever worn anything that scared the bejeebus out of them? Mine are scared to death of my rain gear, long outback coat and hat.


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## Cinnabar456 (Sep 17, 2014)

Well, there doesn't seem to be a top bird. We had a rooster with them for awhile (until he started crowing and we had to send him to a farm not inside the city limits) of course he was the top bird, once he left, no one seems to be top bird anymore. I'll start watching for subtle signs of superiority among them. Thank you for the tip, I'll start wearing protective clothing and pick one to start holding more.

I don't think I have ever worn anything that scared them, I did shake out a rug one day near the coop and a couple of them kinda ran away babbling excitedly.

Starting a new flock probably isn't going to be possible, Husband would prefer to just eat them and call it a day. He says they are more of a pain and expense than they are worth.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

If you can watch when they go to roost, the top bird will make the others move if they have a spot she wants. They may not have a new hierarchy established yet and might be challenging you for the top spot. 

Its going to take observation on your part since we can't be there to see what the trigger is to this aggression. It might not be how we understand aggression but something completely different in a chicken's mind.


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## Ranch (May 26, 2014)

I understand the scary feeling. When I started learning to not be attacked by my AG hens, it was a heart attack waiting to happen. But, when they would start coming to me I would cross my arms at my chest then when they flew up, I would extend my arms away and knock them down. this did not hurt them and it kept them on the ground. Another thing I have learned works is my flip flop. It doesn't hurt them but keeps them in line. It may take awhile for one hen to be top on the pecking order, I believe I read that you had gotten rid of your rooster not so long ago. Be patient, it may take a week of the discipline to work. 

My hb said the same thing about all of mine when ever things goes crazy for a while. But, in the end he will get a soft spot for them.


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## Fiere (Feb 26, 2014)

Who recommended RIR as docile birds? Good heavens! LOL

I have Barnevelder hens that used to act like that. I just swatted them when they came near me aggressively (never sought them out, but if I was doing something and one came tearing over she'd get knocked back) and I'd ignore them completely the rest of the time. They got over it. They realized quickly that I have absolutely no desire to do more than feed them and leave them alone, and as such they stopped being neurotic. 
Chances are you will never get these birds to be snuggle-bunnies (I have never in my life met a friendly RIR), but there's nothing wrong with them accepting your presence while you enjoy their company. I agree with Robin, find the lead hen. She controls the attitude of the flock, get her to stop being a twit and the rest will generally follow suit. No need of them to act like that. Big difference in flighty and downright aggressive.


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## kiweed (Sep 14, 2014)

I would get some silkies or Cochins they are the cats of the chicken world. How long ago did you get rid of the rooster? They maybe still battling out the top spot amongst themselves and you are getting in the way of that.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Or d'Uccles or Red Stars. Or Orpingtons.


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## Fiere (Feb 26, 2014)

Or Australorps, Euskal Oiloa, Faverolle, Bielefelder .

I have not kept the Bielefelder, but they are unbelievable large, friendly birds according to those that keep them. 

I keep everything else and EO are by far the most docile, followed by the Faverolle and the Aussies and Orpingtons tie at third.


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## Cinnabar456 (Sep 17, 2014)

I don't remember who recommended the RiR's as docile and honestly, the RiR's are the nicer of the flock, if we were to compare meanness of the 2 breeds I have, the RiR's are definitely less mean than the PBR's. Today I had 2 of the PBR's come flying at me before I even entered the run, they smacked into the fencing, feathers everywhere, making this noise something like screaming, I could see hatred in their eyes. They just hate me and I honestly have no idea why. I am scared of them but as dumb as it sounds...I love them to death lol.


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## Cinnabar456 (Sep 17, 2014)

kiweed said:


> I would get some silkies or Cochins they are the cats of the chicken world. How long ago did you get rid of the rooster? They maybe still battling out the top spot amongst themselves and you are getting in the way of that.


I don't mean to offend in any way, shape or form and please, no one take this the wrong way but in my opinion, silkies and cochins are just ugly. Now a frizzled...that's adorable, little chicken teddy bears hehe.

The rooster moved to the farm about 2 months ago. I would think they would have sorted out their new pecking order by now but then again, I am new to chickens and admittedly don't know that much.


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## nj2wv (Aug 27, 2013)

I think they are recognizing you as the food source. Mine would fly onto my head. Jump into the feed bucket. Wear long sleeve shirt and long pants with gloves and boots so they don't scratch you. You can also try walking around them with a broom. My chickens don't like it when I sweep the porch and when I have the broom in my hand they stay away !


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## Ranch (May 26, 2014)

The key thing to remember is you are larger than them. Also, that they aren't as "Breakable" as you think. I had a lot of help and advise given to me, it all helped. My main problem was, especially when I started out, I was scared of the chickens. I got mad one day and decided that I was larger and they were going to respect me. After that, I was no longer scared and held my ground. It did take awhile for me to get that way. Mine are not naturally a friendly type unless dealt with a lot and mine were a few months old when I inherited them from the previous property owners. I talk to mine like children when they act aggressively, and punish accordingly. Yesturday Bob, one of my roosters, got a ponk on the head with my flip flop for trying to attack me. 

My pecking order changes constantly in the AG flock. Everyday there is a new top bird. But, you can spot the dominant ones and if you can get them to stop attacking the rest should follow suit. 
Sorry it is frustrating.


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## Fiere (Feb 26, 2014)

I won't keep RIR because everyone I've dealt with are just plain angry. Now my Barred Plymouth Rocks are kittens, though I raise mostly show quality and breed for temperament, mind I keep a production strain as well and I find them endearingly stupid (much like a sex link).

Definitely stick up to them. They will get it, as Ranch said, you are bigger and they are sturdier than you think!


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## Cinnabar456 (Sep 17, 2014)

Thank you everyone for your great advice, today I walked out to feed them and again they flew up to the fence and started "screaming" at me, I walked right up to the fence and smacked the fence (they were not on it at the time but close to it so I didn't actually make contact with anyone), they backed away and I went into the run unaccosted. I said (very loudly without shouting) "This is MY coop, you just live here, knock off your crap or you don't get fed". I realize they don't understand my words but my tone must have meant something because they grumbled but walked away and I am scratch and bite free today! 

Of course I would never withhold their food but empty threats are my specialty, ask my kids! haha

Thanks again! I'm so happy


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## bobrut (Sep 9, 2014)

I have three RIR and they are very friendly, enjoyable girls. Take a broom in with you, they will stay away, you could also try showing them an empty KFC bucket--


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## Cinnabar456 (Sep 17, 2014)

bobrut said:


> I have three RIR and they are very friendly, enjoyable girls. Take a broom in with you, they will stay away, you could also try showing them an empty KFC bucket--


KFC bucket! omg I almost laughed myself right off my chair! Funny stuff.


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## Fiere (Feb 26, 2014)

Empty threats are my mainstay as well. Glad they are getting the hint!


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## GrammyJean (Aug 29, 2012)

I have never had hens act like that.... only a rooster would fly at the fencing to try to get me. 
I think they can 'smell' fear, and if you are afraid of them, that's a big problem.
I recommend going in there with your flip-flops and just going crazy swatting at them and yelling! Mine are very, very docile, and even the ones that don't like to socialize with me just walk away when I come near them.
They seem to take their cues from my voice a LOT. If I chat quietly with them, they walk around my legs and chat back... MY 2 barred rocks will let me pick them up with no squawking or trying to get away, after I COO to them for a bit...
I also try to walk slowly in the pen and yard, and not make any quick movements so as not to scare them.
If some are picking on the smaller ones, I have exclaimed "hey, leave them alone" and swatted at them with my hand, which makes them all scatter!
I sometimes "guard" the smaller ones while they eat, by just walking toward the bigger one that wants to get to their plate... they back off, although they might try to make a circle and try from the other side. LOL
I just think either they are scared to death of you, or they know you are afraid of them and are trying to "keep you in line".
Sounds like a tough problem to solve... *sigh*


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## Cinnabar456 (Sep 17, 2014)

Grammyjean - Thank you for your advice. I have no idea why they would be afraid of me, I have always been careful to avoid scaring them. I would tend to think that it is more likely they smell fear. I am working on that and I'm at the point where I'm sick of it so I just stand up to them now, it seems to be working as long as I don't let any of them get near enough to my hands to get a chomp.


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## GrammyJean (Aug 29, 2012)

Good for you, Cinnabar, and don't let up. Talking angrily to them, "Don't any of you DARE to try to bite me today, or I'll start looking for a recipe for Chicken Gumbo!" would be a good idea until you're certain you have your bluff secured. 

My very first batch of 4 hens seemed to be taking forever to begin laying.... when at the end of my patience, I started telling them they were not going to have a "free ride" forever. Mentioning that there were many good chicken dishes I could make. Then I launched into a Loong narrative of ways too cook chicken--, "There's baked chicken, fried chicken, chicken & dumplings, chicken fricasee, chicken salad, chicken gumbo, ...Paella has chicken in it, and also there's blackened chicken, ..." and I went on and on like in the movie 'Forest Gump'. ROFL Just quietly as I went about feeding and watering and raking up the yard, etc.

I swear on a stack of Bibles they began laying within just a few days. LOL I don't know, but I'd swear my current flock knows what I'm saying most of the time.... You just never know!


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## GrammyJean (Aug 29, 2012)

Oh! One more thing.... if you keep your fingernails polished with bright colors they might be going after that! Also I have had a couple try to get my rings! Maybe they think they've found a good bug or something.... LOL


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## hildar (Oct 3, 2013)

GrammyJean said:


> Oh! One more thing.... if you keep your fingernails polished with bright colors they might be going after that! Also I have had a couple try to get my rings! Maybe they think they've found a good bug or something.... LOL


Chickens love anything shiny. I have my favorite NN that loves to play with my wedding ring. She also loves to try and pull the metallic beads off my shirt. We cuddle for awhile and then she starts playing with them. My oldest daughter 15 has found out that all the hens want her fingernails when she paints them. However some hens are not gentle when they find something they want to play with and go after. Lucky for me Rose is about as gentle as any hen can get. She even looks at me first before going after my ring.


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## Cinnabar456 (Sep 17, 2014)

I found out the hard way that chickens like shiny things so I do not wear any jewelry around them. I also do not wear fingernail polish, it just comes off anyway when I'm cleaning house, detergent is very hard on polish. But so far so good, they aren't completely over the attacking bit but it's much much better since I stood up to them.
They also like my ponytail so now I keep it in a bun or doubled pony that they can't get a hold of when I bend over.

Thank you to everyone that gave me advice, it was all taken and put to use.


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## Tony-O (Jul 19, 2012)

Just a thought here.  They may just associate you with food seeing as while you were raising them, they depended on you bringing them food. Therefore, grabbing at you trying to get that treat before the others.  Once finding nothing to eat, fearing you'll retaliate, run off to get away from you.


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## babychic (Jul 27, 2014)

we have rir's and they are awesome birds. at some point, if you look back you might be able to see where the behavior might have started and then slowly escalated. humans arent as observant as other animals and miss alot of communication because they arent aware of it.

how old are your hens? i know our hens went thru a bratty teenage stage a month before they started laying but they never got out of hand and grew out of it quickly. we also hand raised all our chicks and had no issues of aggression. its natural for birds to become independent but something must have happened and you allowed this to become aggression and it escalated because you didnt know better. 

so now we have to modify the behavior and get them back to their gentle chicken natures. you will have to pick them up and hold them so they wll know they cant do that anymore. if you cant do that, do you know anyone who is savvy with chickens who could come by for an hour and show you how to handle them? i dont think food is why they are going after you. unless they are very deficient in something and really really hungry. what do you feed them?

animals are also very sensitive and pick up on our emotions and thoughts and react. fear is the worst emotion for anyone to have, because it makes you untrustworthy and dangerous to another animal, because you are unpredictable. also stress can cause them to act strange and act out for us anger or other things. many times they are a reflection of our personalities and lifestyle.

is a pbr a plymouth barred rock? just wanted to clarify that. we have one of those, and she is very very smart. she will sometimes jump on my lap to hang out or sit on my shoulder. she is very gentle. our 3 rir's overall are great also. 

like i said, at this point, you have to change the way you act and feel around them so they can change. have you heard of rescue remedy? i would get some for yourself and the chickens and put in their water and then you take some when ever you feel anxious or stressed. obviously they are stressed or they wouldnt do this. they feel afraid and defensive around you for some reason. rescue remedy is a homeopathic flower essence so its safe for everyone, including babies. it works immediately. 

how do they act around other humans or other animals if you have any?


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## Cinnabar456 (Sep 17, 2014)

babychic - thank you for your message, I found several tips that would be useful. Thankfully, they have stopped attacking me altogether and the other day, one of the RiR's actually sat on my lap.

Yes PBR is a Barred rock (Plymouth Barred Rock) I know many people have many different names for them but they are the same chicken.

My hens are various ages, the RiR's are 22 weeks and have been laying for a month now, one of the PBR's is 21 weeks and laying for month ish and the other 2 PBR's are just 18 weeks and one of them laid her first egg yesterday, no egg today and the other youngster hasn't laid any at all. I don't expect consistent laying out of the 2 young PBR's because the older one is hit and miss but I'll tell you what, those RiR's are egg laying machines! 6 days a week religiously, no kidding! Big beautiful brown eggs, love it!

There was absolutely no way I could possibly have picked them up and held them 2 weeks ago, they were just too vicious, all of them. Get anywhere near them and I practically lost a limb or finger or something. But like I said, once I stood up to them it all changed dramatically and quickly.

I used to hold them and play with them when they were still fluffy chickies but once they completely feathered out, they became vicious. The only thing I can think of that may have made that difference was taking them from the brooder and putting them in the "in between ages" tractor.

I feed them a mix of organic chicken feed and natural herbs that I grow myself advised from Lisa at "Fresh Eggs Daily".

I am an herbalist myself and have heard of rescue remedy but I don't like pre prepared herb mixtures/tinctures, I prefer to make them myself. You just never know how honest some of those companies are. I know of 1 essential oil company that has some pretty dishonest practices, as an example. I know what I'm ingesting and what my chickens are ingesting when I do it myself.

The chickens seem to like my puppy fairly well but not my cat, no reason for it other than the cat sleeps on top of the run, she has never been aggressive with them, I make sure of that. As far as how they behave with other people, they did the same thing to my husband and daughter. 

I hope I have answered all of your questions. I am now enjoying my chickens more since they are no longer attacking me


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## babychic (Jul 27, 2014)

so glad you are able to enjoy your chickens again! i am really glad you are using organic feed. its so important to stop supporting the poisonous chemicals that are harming everyone. its not just an individual decision to eat better but affects everyone and everything.
bach flower remedies are i think at least a hundred years old.they are homeopathic flower essences not essential oils. i have been using them for over 20 years and never had a problem. i have never heard of problems with homeopthics or herbs. we also use bhi/heel and boiron and some hylands. all of these are also very old reputable brands and traumeel is a number one product world wide that even md's and surgeons are using. 

our rir s are great layers too, we are just getting our first green eggs from our americanas who started laying later than their sisters our bl astrolorp, br and the rirs. 

our chickens have also pecked at our nail polish but soon realized it was not food and after i told them these are my fingers they leave them alone now. 

you may want to try the homeopathics at some point, i have used boiron's oscillo for years now and also for my daughter and it prevents all of these weird things that are in the air. i had some great results when two of our chickens started sneezing/coughing and i put the oscillo and some other remedies in their water and within a day they stopped coughing and even though some of our chickens had some black spots on their combs from mosquitoes no one ever got ill. i thought you may be interested in that, just in case you may need it some day.

i also am an herbalist but i find that homeopathics are so much easier, especially since my daughter when she was a baby couldnt take herbs, but could easily take a spoon of water with the dose in it. we put rememdies in our dogs water since many of them are older and its easier to treat everyone that way. i love herbs and still use them and they are amazing and such a blessing to have. nature truly provides everything in such abundance and its something i am still in awe over.


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