Hen keeps attacking us.. Help!

[kathrynleigh37]

Hi friends!
I have a little trio of hens (used to be four, but sadly we lost our sweet Aunt Jemimah). They're all 8 months old and we raised them together from day 1.. Spent lots of time handling them and hanging out with them... 3 (now 2) of them are very social, but for some reason the 4th, Betty Crocker, has just gotten meaner and meaner as she's grown up.

Betty's a Welsummer, which I've heard are usually quite docile, but she definitely is NOT. She runs away literally screaming at us, and if we get anywhere near her she'll attack our feet and legs -- I'm not talking about just a little peck here and there... I mean literally biting and scratching at us and has drawn blood a couple times.

She's always been a little bit of a loner and hasn't wanted to socialize as much as the other girls... but it's just gotten worse and worse. I definitely don't want to rehome her.. Any advice on dealing with a mean hen?

 

[pennyJo1960]

Hey there are you certain she is pullet not cockerel maybe if you could post a photo
sounds like a cockerel in full hormones

 

[coach723]

This may seem obvious, but are you sure it's a pullet? Pictures if you are not sure.
Here is a thread with some suggestions, if it is indeed a she and you want to keep her. Sometimes a hen will take on the role of a male when there isn't one in the flock, but it's more common bratty cockerel behavior.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/hen-aggressive-toward-us-what-to-do.328943/page-2

 

[FortCluck]

This definitely doesn't sound like normal pullet behavior. Hopefully someone can give you more advice about this issue. I know Cockerels can get this way.

 

[deek248]

Gumbo time

 

[kathrynleigh37]

We had thought the same thing at one point but then everyone decided that she WAS a girl... And now we're not sure again. I attached some pictures of her from today. She (he?) also has what looks like spurs growing? Those are definitely new within the past couple weeks... I suppose that would mean she's a rooster? But then I've also heard that hens can grow spur buds that will just never develop into full spurs?

 

[kathrynleigh37]

I also found this thread that shows Welsummer hens vs roosters and her coloring looks like a hen... So I'm still thoroughly confused

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...rence-between-a-welsummer-pullet-cock.288773/

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Doesn’t look very male to me with no pointy saddle or hackle feathers, modest comb for an 8 month old. Has it ever laid an egg or crowed? With no rooster, I’m wondering if it could be a hen that is in the process of trying to take on the role of rooster... Sex reversal in chickens is rare though, so maybe not at the top of your list of causes...

 

[Ebony Rose]

Hens can grow spurs too. That's an alpha hen in an all hen flock. She'll probably not lay, or if she does, expect it to be very sporadic.
You can either train her like a cockerel (show her that YOU, and all humans and your pets) are higher on the pecking order than she is or...
You can re-home or eat her.

 

[kathrynleigh37]

That's what we thought too! The weird thing is she's definitely not at the top of the pecking order... She's aggressive towards us, but VERY shy around the other girls and gets easily bossed around by them. We do also have another hen who occasionally mounts the others and generally seems to be the alpha hen.

We haven't seen her lay any eggs though... The others lay a lot and we've tried to catch Betty in the act, but she doesn't seem to be laying from what we can tell.