My Leghorns are afraid of my dress!

[Chickchat22]

My hens are almost a year old now. I wore a skirt (apparently for the first time) the other morning to feed and water them. They sort of freaked out a little. I quickly gave them their breakfast and water, and got out of the run. Once out they settled down...I thought it might be because they did not recognize me. I was in a skirt and had put on a poncho because my cat was napping on the sweat shirt I usually wear. Come to find out they don't like the skirt/dress flapping around at face height. The next week I had on a sundress (I live in Texas) and same thing happened until I pulled it tight against my legs. Silly girls, but whatever it takes to make them calm. Just thought I would share. These are the first chickens I have owned and every day is a learning experience.

 

[sourland]

Chickens hate change of any sort. It's the nature of the beast.

 

[nuthatched]

A dress and a poncho will look like A big flapping thing-possible predator.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Sometimes the color of new shoes or boots can cause that reaction. You never know what can trigger some type of reaction.

 

[Acre4Me]

Yes, it is a common problem. They are prey animals, so anything that looks or sounds different might kill them. So they all freak out a little. If you have particularly flighty ones, you can get some extreme responses. Once, a particularly flighty (and possibly a bit Less-intelligent) EE of ours freaked out due to something new…literally jumped high, legs running mid air, and bolted right into the open fence gate, bounced off it, stumbled, got their footing and bolted blindly into the run while screaming her head off. Memorable. While the other hens were startled by the new thing, none were quite that responsive to the experience. But, hey, no one died from that new thing either!

 

[rosemarythyme]

I haven't had this issue because I'm constantly running out to the coop in a variety of things, so my clothes, jewelry, etc. don't set them off.

However, a single plastic bag with a bit of breeze is truly terrifying!

 

[PaperChicken]

I can walk through my chicken run (white leghorns) just fine, then I can go get a shovel or even a hammer and carry it through there and they are scared to death - BAWK, BAWK, BAWK.

 

[CaliforniaMountainChicks]

Lol that happened to me when I started wearing long dresses around them for the first time… this is coming from hens who will jump all over me, but the first time I wore my dresses they wouldn’t come within 10ft of me! It honestly took them over the course of a few weeks to get over their fear of my dresses!

 

[doomsie]

I remember reading a passage in an animal husbandry book once that extolled the virtues of routine with animals. The book said that if you wear a different hat, the animals notice. If you show up at a different time than usual, the animals notice. They come to trust you, and if there's variation in the routine, they *will* notice - it could lead to stress and other unwanted behavior.

It's anecdotal, but it has stuck with me since I read it.

 

[3KillerBs]

I haven't had this issue because I'm constantly running out to the coop in a variety of things, so my clothes, jewelry, etc. don't set them off.

I do this deliberately so that they get used to it.

I always talk to them as I work -- intending that they will learn by the sound of my voice that I'm still me even if my feathers change.