Chicken bald back

[Jaynemanfredi]

I'm new to this so please forgive my ignorance! Have bought our first birds two days ago, two female lavender pekin bantams, ten weeks old. One of them in particular seems quite aggressive. She has pecked me and has flown at the window of the coop, terrifying my seven year old daughter when she looked in. Is this normal behaviour? Should I be worried or am I being daft?! Also, both birds have bloody spots on their heads just above their beaks, one far worse than the other. They looked like this when I returned home today. I can't see how they could have done it. Was really excited about keeping them but feel a little discouraged now. We chose pekins because they are supposed to be friendly birds, which is important for us as we have three kids, aged seven, three and one. Any help and advice would be REALLY appreciated. Thanks x

[Sam]

Just a though, could it be a cockerel?

None of mine have ever pecked me

[Jaynemanfredi]

That's occurred to me too, but how on earth do I tell?! Obviously was assured that they are both female. Their combs aren't huge and I've not seen them fighting with each other

[Sam]

I'd post a photo or 2 on the forum so people can tell, just to be sure

[Jaynemanfredi]

Thanks Sam. Will do

[Redwing]

The blood above their beaks could be caused by them sticking their beaks repeatedly through wire mesh, I have seen chooks do this for a few days till they settle down and get used to a run

 

It could be that they werent handled much at the breeders, if you breed a number of chooks its hard to give each one the contact needed for it to become tame

 

It wont take long for them to calm down and start to behave like pets, take it slowly and ply them with treats

[Snowy]

They can be a bit pecky and feisty initially, but they should settle down. I have one that tries to attack my hand when I go to pick her up - it's not like being pecked by one of the big girls though And they do jump and flap at each other - normal juvenile behaviour. They don't normally draw blood though, so worth keeping an eye on them to make sure that doesn't get out of hand.

When handling them with your children you need to hold the hens yourself, show the children how to hold them safely and keep the wings under control - a well aimed wing tip can scratch little faces if they flap. The more you supervise them together the more settled the hens will become and the more confident the children will be.

Pekins are easy to sex from an early age, if you have a cockerel they will have bright red comb and wattles by now.

[Redwing]

I'm with Snowy, Pekins are feisty but the females are rarely aggressive

 

I forgot to say before that chooks are attracted by shiny things and will peck at them so glittery nail varnish, rings, bracelets, spangly sleeves etc... are all things to peck at as far as they are concerned

[Jaynemanfredi]

Thanks so much for the replies, feel happier and a bit more reassured. The pekins look a bit better today, although they only surfaced from their house at tea time, i'm guessing because the weather was foul all day. No new injuries so all good so far. Will continue to be patient and make sure the kids keep their distance for the time being, though I don't think they're in any hurry to go near them just yet! I've definitely got girls I think as their combs are pale in colour and are tiny.

 

Thanks again,

Jayne

[emmastar]

Ive sat for houres on end in the garden after work with treats to get mine to come to me and be as tams as they are now .( now i get a stampeed and jumped up at when i open the door )

It took a few weeks to get all mine friendley and my peeking girls jelly and bean are so tame ,

As soon as they realise people mean treats thell soon change .

[chuckmum6]

Get her out and handle her, sit her on your lap with a good secure grip, stroke and talk to her (she may go to sleep - mine do). If you do this each day as well as give them treats afterwards she will so on associate you with nice things. I think the flapping is to do with fear, make sure the children are quiet and move slowly near them for a bit. You will need to put some purple spray or the like on the cuts to stop them pecking more. Good luck, they will settle down.

[Jaynemanfredi]

Thanks again for the replies,

I let them out of their run for the first time yesterday evening. The smaller one (Butterfly - named by my three year old unfortunately) jumped straight onto my lap, let me stroke her, then jumped onto my neck. The pecky one (Stella) was very wary of me, but I did eventually get her to eat out of my hand. I think you're right and that she's just a bit scared. Strange because she's the bigger of the two. Butterfly is slightly smaller and i've noticed that her comb is a bit bigger and redder than Stellas. Getting paranoid now that she's a HE, but we'll see. Her wattles are pinky coloured and barely there really. Problem was that they wouldn't go back into their coop, even though night was falling fast. They finally huddled up together in a corner. Think they got confused. We had to pick them up and carry them back, and sure enough Stella went on the attack. She doesn't want to be handled at all. Will continue to be patient though!

Thanks again,

Jayne

[Plum]

I was a bit mean with mine and took the food out and in the morning they had to eat from my hand before I put their food back.

 

Just give it time and as they mature they settle down but are still lovely characters.

[Jaynemanfredi]

Thanks Plum,

that's a good idea. Will try that next I think