I had no idea that you were able to attack the actual boss when it put up the shield. I just thought you had to kill the chickens no matter what. I just thought my Nefer was built bad and that's why I wasn't able to clear the 1st boss. This is my first attempt on Fearless difficulty after just attacking the boss instead of the chickens. You're kidding me.
Update from my previous post (that no one asked for)