Skip navigation.
Home hen with chicks variety chicken eggs urban chicken

HELP!!!! Behavior Modification for one of my hens needed!

9 replies
Joined: 11/02/2008
User offline. Last seen 51 weeks 4 days ago.

One of my chickens has always pecked once or twice at my jeans when I entered their area. Never bothered me, I usually have a treat I'm giving them and I just thought she was in a hurry to get it. But now that I wear shorts (and sometimes my robe in the morning), those pecks hurt. Is there any way to discourage this behavior? I know how to deal with dogs and humans, but chickens are a mystery to me....

KT
Joined: 11/21/2007
User offline. Last seen 28 weeks 6 days ago.

Yes- I have the same problem. One of my birds did this, and then she grew out of it. Now one of my younger girls is doing it. It's almost shorts and sandals time, which means more pain from pecks. I too need a solution, if there is one.

Joined: 04/07/2009
User offline. Last seen 1 year 10 weeks ago.

Chickens have a lot more, going on upstairs, than folks think. They can't cuddle or lick you, to show their affections. They're only source of social activity (at all) is that beak. They examine their world, test out food, feel strange things...it's like us using our hands.I know it's annoying and sometimes painful, but the fact is, the 'pecker' is trying to kiss you.Sometimes, it's curiosity. If you want to test it out, put a tiny dot on your leg, maybe from a pen, and see what the chicken does. Their eyesight is amazing and when they see something new, something they wonder about, they will peck at it.I once had a favored turkey. She would follow me to the mail box, down the road and walk back with me. She kept turning her head and eyeing something about my head and showed a lot of curiosity. One day, I stooped down to let her get a closer look and 'blam!', she pecked out my contact lense. Ouch! Turkey Girl!!!!!! It took awhile to realize that little brown disk in the dust, was my lense. Can you believe, she had been seeing that thing floating in my eye and was fixated on it. I'll never do that again. :)Your only defense is to toughen up and take it, or wear long pants because you feathered friend is trying to be your best buddy.Judy

Joined: 04/06/2009
User offline. Last seen 1 year 20 weeks ago.

Luv this reply,Red46!

Love pecks!!!Laughing

Anonymous (not verified)

Oh THANK YOU!!!! I was shocked yesterday because my largest, Blacktail (A Rhode Island Red Whos tail is just now growing back in thanks to an opposom attack) pecked the back of my leg and drew blood. I know she has a lot of control, as I feed her grapes from my fingers and it has never been an issue. Is there a difference when they actually draw blood? We are in N. Florida and jeans aren't always fun to wear outside. More perspectives please!~ This place is great!

Joined: 10/23/2009
User offline. Last seen 44 weeks 7 hours ago.

My chickens peck at my freckles and moles.  Maybe you can spray the chicken that's pecking at you with a spray bottle to discourage more pecking? 

Joined: 12/18/2009
User offline. Last seen 9 weeks 2 hours ago.

With our girls, we've found that spray bottles are a good deterrent to bad (or undesirable) behavior... with regular reinforcement. Our girls have learned that they are not to go into the vegetable garden - when we're right there watching them. Unfortunately, sine they are quite smart, they also quickly figured out that they could go into the garden with no repercussions if we aren't there watching!Tongue out 

We also use vocalizations to reinforce the spraying, and a lot of times they now respond to the vocalization alone. We also use a gentle "peck" on the head with an index finger if they hurt us or each other (i.e. by pecking faces), which seems to be effective - again, with regular reinforcement.

Joined: 01/25/2010
User offline. Last seen 31 weeks 1 day ago.
Joined: 04/09/2010
User offline. Last seen 20 weeks 6 days ago.

We are offering high quality discount watches at wholesale prices directly from our wholesale warehouse.
Buy snow boots with a price guarantee and top rated customer service
Shop for men's watches in handsome styles that include men's dress watches,
Trade Leads for Tiffany designer jewelry, Search ecplaza.net for buying and selling leads,
Shop for men's watches in handsome styles that include men's dress watches,
Top 10 best handbags web sites hand selected by the LoveToKnow editors
Official TimberLand Boots are on sale with good price, and free delivery to you.
The UGG Classic Tall Boots features genuine twin-face sheepskin for refreshing comfort.
Most Fake Cheap Tag Heuer Watches Items In Lowest Price.
But this is not the case with Alain Silberstein Watches are different,
We offer replica luxury Audemars Piguet Watches with Lower Price and High Quality for both men and women.
Replica Jacob & Co Watches – Buy highest quality Jacob & Co replica watches at cheap wholesale price.
Jaeger LeCoultre Watches can be viewed and purchased from Prestige Time at discounted prices.
For classic and quality silver jewelry,many people choose Tiffany & Co. Sets.
Guess Handbagsare adventurous and trendsetting.
Shop the latest Bottega Veneta Handbags by a global community of independent trendsetters and stylists.

Joined: 04/28/2010
User offline. Last seen 18 weeks 1 day ago.