Can pecking cause any damage to a human?

[MrsADW]

I know this is a silly question, but I am new to the chicken world. A few of my most friendly hens, oddly, sometimes peck a little bit more aggressively that it startles my hand. They are only about 3 1/2 weeks old, so I am concerned as they get bigger, will this become a problem if I want to hand feed them or is there something I can do to train them out of that? I'm more concerned for my 2 year old's sake than anything....

 

[sourland]

Welcome to BYC. The only way that pecking might cause problems to an adult is if the skin was broken allowing for the possibility of infection. Kids, that's another story. Chickens peck at shiny objects, and a child's eyes can become a target. Small children should always be monitored in their interactions with ANY animals.

PS - not a silly question by any means.

 

[PeepsAreForMe]

My hens peck at the flowers on my boots, buttons, my painted toe nails, anything I have in my hand. They don't break the skin but it is startling! I would be very careful with a child around them. They don't see straight on like we do, when they get older you will see them turn their head and look at you with one eye.

 

[azygous]

You need to know that for chickens, their beaks are their main connection to the world. Besides getting food into their bodies, it's the way they gather information and communicate with each other.

When chickens are eating together, it's often competitive, and if you're hand feeding them treats, they can get pretty rough, trying to get their share and more. The secret to not getting painful pecks is to hand feed singly or two or three at a time or else they are apt to deliver some painful pecks in the feeding frenzy.

As your chickens get to know you, they will often seek attention from you by pecking you on the leg or back, if you're in the pen paying attention to another chicken. This isn't aggression as many people think, but just a way to tell you they want you to pay attention to them.

I totally agree that small children must be very closely supervised when around chickens.

 

[MontanaDolphin]

Mine peck me all the time...10 week old cockerels and pullets (Barred Rocks). It's startling, but not a concern to me...until one of my least friendly cockerels decided to BITE me...not peck...and drew blood on the thin skin of my hand (the outer skin in between your thumb and forefinger). He would NOT let go...I had to pluck my finger on his face to get him to release...then I turned him upside down until I felt he learned his lesson. Needless to say, he's first in line to become dinner.

 

[bowen012]

When I was a kid, maybe 8 years old or so, my grandfather had the meanest variety of birds imagineable: Mean turkeys, terrorizing geese, and an aggressive rooster (no idea of breed as it was 30 years or so ago. Some sort of red feathery thing). The rooster would terrorize whoever collected eggs and one day it went after my older brother (who was maybe 14 or so). My brother sees it charging and punts it away, but subsequently slips in mud (or cow patties, or whatever) and pops up noticing the rooster was 'gone.' Just as he asks "where is it?!?!" The rooster lands on his head and delivers a peck, center mast of his skull, and follows it up with a few more...

Next I see my brother, is in the bathroom looking in the mirror with a steady stream of blood running down his face. Part of this is the tendency of the head to bleed freely, but it made quite the impression on all of us siblings as children... Dangerous? Maybe not so much? Mortifying at times? Possibly.

 

[Thebazilly]

My chickens peck me sometimes when I'm feeding them, or when I go outside barefoot and don't have anything interesting with me. They don't peck hard enough to break the skin, but sometimes it does hurt a little. A little shooing usually clears it up. Haven't had any of them try to get aggressive with me, but I'm sure they could draw blood if they wanted to.