Am I alone on this???

[TechnoCat]

so, my girl, Pepper, is a sweet, loud black australorpe. she'll melt your heart at one look. but there's a catch to it. She's so scared of people!!!

I'll go to pick her up to put them in their run, and she'll run away from me and I have to chase her around the yard until I can grab her. Or she'll crouch down really low.

and she DOES NOT like her pic taken.
Is anyone elses australorpe like this??? If I'm not alone, I'll be shocked.

 

[petejd]

How old is she?

 

[aoxa]

My buff orpington is like this as well. For a supposed friendly breed, she sure hates people

I'm hoping it improves when she starts to lay.

 

[BasicallyHeather]

My four black australorps generally only let me pick them up early in the morning and late in the evening. During the day, they will take treats from my hands, but they won't let me pick them up! Sometimes they will let me give them a pet or two on their chest feathers, but that's about it. So it sounds to me like your australorp is par for the course!

By contrast, our three silkies are cuddle bugs... but I love all of our babies!

 

[TechnoCat]

my australorpe is two years. so is my BO. Amulet (my BO) absoulutly LOVES people, especially me.

and aoxa, it's not going to get better, sorry. Pepper's been like this since she was little.

it's actually going to get worse. sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Edited because my comp is a potato

 

[Sunny Side Up]

The Australorpes I've had were not the boldest birds of my batch. I think it's a combination of nature & nurture. Some chickens are naturally more tolerant of handling, others can be trained to be more acceptable towards it. And there are some who will never want to be handled.

Instead of chasing your hen around in order to catch & hold her, perhaps you should just work on gaining her trust. Try bringing her a bit of treat about 75% of the time you go see her. Soon she will associate your approach with something good. She may not ever develop into a lap chicken, but she should be more tolerant & less afraid of you.

I say to bring the treat only 75% of the time so that it will always keep her guessing, and she'll be more likely to always come see you. It's like gambling, the random rewards are more compelling!

 

[teach1rusl]

My BA is a loud talker too...lol!! I wonder if all BAs are loud?? She's not my friendliest bird, but she won't run from me either, so I guess she's in the middle there. Sounds like you need to train your girls to the sound of a treat/scratch jar! That way when you shake the jar, they come running. then you just have to toss a bit of scratch into the run and the birds will follow. No games of "watch the silly human chase the scaredy cat chicken"

 

[Zinnia-Hen]

Sounds like my black Australorp.

 

[TechnoCat]

Quote:
I always bring my girls treats, from cucumbers or really any fruit or veggie peels. and the occasional nightcrawlers. She does come to see me a lot during free-range time when I am walking out to do something.
WAIT!
I know why she's so skittish now!
When they were little, they were shipped to us, and we put them in a LARGE dog crate. we were introducing our dog to her, and so she hopped through the bars of the cage, and the dog went all barking mad (she doesn't do this anymore, she PROTECTS our girls) and scared her.
maybe that's it? anyone else think this could be her source of fear?

 

[Jesseschickens]

I have a barred rock who does this a beautiful bird but doesnt like people! i just happened to get this picture!
BROWNIE!