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One of my hens, who is just on the verge of coming into lay for the first time judging by her red dangly bits and the way she squats if I stroke her back now, has suddenly become quite scary to hand feed - or to be anywhere close to when there's food around in fact! She grabs the whole of my finger and bites it quite hard if she runs out of food, and pecks at the back of my hands if I'm not quick enough or the others are getting a go - I've got bruises from this, it's in no way a gentle reminder! The other day she even jumped at me and pecked me on the nose! Ouchies!
She's always been a bit of a jumper and sometimes 'reminded' me she's waiting for her turn with a relatively gentle nip on the finger (or the top of my head in the days when she used to sit on my shoulder), but she's never been violent before! Now I know why the Babes run away from her even though she's only half their size!
Is this likely to be a temporary thing do you think, which will fade once she starts laying? Or can hens have a permanent personality (henality??) change? Is there anything I can do to stop it? Apart from not hand feeding any of them any more, which seems a bit drastic... I did try tapping her on the beak and telling her it's not polite to bite, but she just laughed at me and bit me again. Any ideas??
She's always been a bit of a jumper and sometimes 'reminded' me she's waiting for her turn with a relatively gentle nip on the finger (or the top of my head in the days when she used to sit on my shoulder), but she's never been violent before! Now I know why the Babes run away from her even though she's only half their size!
Is this likely to be a temporary thing do you think, which will fade once she starts laying? Or can hens have a permanent personality (henality??) change? Is there anything I can do to stop it? Apart from not hand feeding any of them any more, which seems a bit drastic... I did try tapping her on the beak and telling her it's not polite to bite, but she just laughed at me and bit me again. Any ideas??
. She's quite nice and sweet the rest of the time, it's just about food, and it's quite recent.. She certainly wants to be the boss Nicos, yes! I think being the first of the youngsters to be almost ready to lay has gone to her head or something! I was kind of hoping that once her hormones settled down she'd go back to being nice again... I do go in empty-handed quite often Suechooks, and none of them flies at me so far - they all come running and squawking, but they don't attack - not even Ms Bossy. It's just when I'm doling out bits of sardine or whatever to individuals, and she wants more than everyone else. I'll have a strict word with her and see if we can sort her out 
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. I've considered the cage idea certainly, for the preservation of my nose if nothing else! I'm sure she just sees me as a giant chicken or something... At the moment I'm sticking to treats which can be chucked down because they go further - so all those things I'll get told off for on this forum, like a spoonful of mashed potato yesterday, and a bit of stuffing today - but I promise it's only a taste!! And only temporary, honest! The problem seems to be with extra special things like tinned fish and scrambled egg. I could try the diluting strategy, but I'm not convinced she'll be fooled to be honest - apart from anything else, it's all about poking your beak into whatever someone else is eating, whether you want it or not... It's weird really, because she's being ever so sweet the rest of the time. I only have to speak to her and she squats, and stays there quite amicably while I pick her up and carry her to wherever. She burbles away while I'm walking, and never so much as nips a finger. She follows me into the outhouse where their coop is now housed, and chats away while she explores the new nesting sites. If I didn't know better, I'd swear she's really excited because she knows she's going to start laying soon, and she needs someone to share all the gossip with! Bless 
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