anxious, over-protective 3 week old chick

[LoriMarsh]

Our baby chicks are just 3 weeks old. The barred Plymouth Rock has become anxious and over protective... every time someone comes up to the cage, she flaps and jumps and tries to keep us away from the other 4 chicks. We only hold them about once a day and there's no reason for her to feel threatened. What do we do to calm her down????

 

[sourland]

Do you approach them from above or on their level ? As prey animals chickens do not like being approached from above. This may be a young cockerel already developing protective instincts.

 

[ForTheLuvOfChickies]

What I did with my chickie ( I named it Independence by the way cause it was born on the 4th of July) was stand by the brooder for about 10 minutes then gradually introduce my hand then it eventually hopped on. Now it likes me. I give it puppy treats as an incentive to be cool calm and collectivated

 

[lazy gardener]

Let's see a photo of that BR chickie. I'm thinking she may be a he. should be easy to tell, given that it's a BR. Need natural lighting, full view, side profile, and fronts of shanks/feet.