When I was a kid I had to do that for our over 500 hens. All that whilst the roosters were trying to kill me. No idea how that hen drew blood but yeah... never pull, keep your hand there and they cannot really harm you.
I can't enough of broody hens. It's so funny to watch a pissed off hen all poofed up attack like that. My favorite part of the vid was when she took and egg back.
I didn’t know what a broody chicken was so when a video of such title popped up I saw it. Now I'm constantly getting broody chicken vidoes recommended. Not that Im complaing, these are actually quite funny.
What's ridiculous is how hens will get broody even though the eggs are not fertilized. Chickens are some of the craziest animals on the planet, sometimes lovable, other times psychotic.
I decided to wear gloves because of a hen like this, so she started aiming her bites at the tender underside above my wrist. I put my gauntlet style welding gloves in the coop and she started launching off the nest into my face! My final solution other than putting her in a casserole was to rake her off the nest with a fishing net and hold her down as I collect her eggs. We renamed her. 'Gator' still has the most frequent broody cycles of any chicken, ever.
Back in SC we had buff cochins and Rhode island reds. Cochins didn't hurt at all when they pecked you, but our RIR could take skin off or leave pinch bruises... Over time I got used to them all and was like eh every morning when I got the eggs 🤣🤣
When my chicken still laid eggs and sometimes got angry when trying to retrieve the eggs, I would put a small, light fluffy towel on her head to keep her calm/distracted while I took the eggs. I wouldn't hold it down forcefully or anything, just let it rest there until she realised what was happening and chucked it off hehe. The indignant look she would give me was hilarious lmao.
tips: fold your hand over her head so she doesn’t see. You can also hold her neck. Also, just before birds peck they need a few milliseconds to focus their eyes. If you learn to recognise that movement you will always have enough time to withdraw your hand.
With all that vioIence on me would just kick that chicken a, ss but I don’t think that would ever happen because as a human I’m stronger than a small hen and would just prevent the pecking.
Yep, she is no joke. :0 I had a perfectly tame Buff Orphington named Sugar who was slight in build. She went broody one time and her hormones must have been at full blast because she took me by surprise one time and chomped me good. Tore the skin/cuticle above my fingernail down to the nail. Hurt like the blazes and I still have the scar. Sometimes chickens punch with their beaks---usually this is more of a "get away"/"I'm warning you" message---but this was a full, snapping motion blow as hard as she could muster. To give some who may have not been bitten this way before and why the video-maker is like "Ow!", chickens typically reserve this kind of blow for the killing of small rodents or during chicken-v-predator self defense. Chicken necks are like jackhammers: a lot of force (especially if they're throwing their body at you at the same time) all directed into a tiny, hard area (beak). I count myself lucky to have incredibly tame chickens but that outburst from Sugar reminded me that sturdy work gloves are nice when you've got a broody. :) Good video showcasing how broody hens mean business when protecting their clutch (hope you cuts heal!)! :) Edit: I almost want to say that the English line of chickens has lead to some fantastically defensive broody mothers. I've had numerous Sussexes who were very vocal when broody and would pick at me a little (not like Sugar though). Australorps have good chicken-v-chicken defense while protecting a brood but have repeatedly been more mellow towards me.
