Arizona Chickens

[BlueBaby]

The Remmy/Bresse babies are supposed to start hatching in just a couple days!!

Are they going to be the NN/Breese ones?

 

[Diannastarr]

Are they going to be the NN/Breese ones?

O YEAH THATS WHAT I WANT TO HEAR...!!!! EXCELLENT KEEP US POSTED..!!!

 

[SonoranChick]

Just looking for suggestions... In September, I bought one of my hens hatching eggs, out of 9 eggs only one survived in a healthy manner....
View attachment 1251272View attachment 1251276that one baby is the most flighty chicken I've ever had... The other 5 hens, don't allow her to share when they are eating, and she is sooooo terrrified of "EVERYthing" that if I toss food to her away from the other birds she runs away... I don't know what to do for her... If we want to catch her, It takes two of us to corner her and grab her... I don't want to stress her out... but, would like to know she's ok... My birds free range my backyard...

She's quite a pretty little thing, isn't she! Too bad she's such a...well..."chicken" lol. It reminds me of my first flock of ameracaunas. They were so terrified of life. I felt guilty even going into the coop, and like you said, it took at least two people to corner and catch them. I always just chalked it up to me not raising them by hand. I don't know what to do for chickens like this, I always have a heart for the underdog, but chicken world can be strange and unforgiving by human standards. In my opinion she may always be at the bottom of the pecking order. My barnevelder is displaying some behavior similar to this, though not nearly as drastic. It's as if she wants to be the little bird on the bottom of the totem pole. She cowers when no other bird is coming for her, she runs from treats, she sits idle when the others pick on her. Even when her bully has the peepers on, it's as if the victim behavior has been instilled in her. I worry that she is under stress. The good news is, your hen is still young. I hope it is something they will grow out of but only time will tell.

 

[cactusrota]

Just looking for suggestions... In September, I bought one of my hens hatching eggs, out of 9 eggs only one survived in a healthy manner....
View attachment 1251272View attachment 1251276that one baby is the most flighty chicken I've ever had... The other 5 hens, don't allow her to share when they are eating, and she is sooooo terrrified of "EVERYthing" that if I toss food to her away from the other birds she runs away... I don't know what to do for her... If we want to catch her, It takes two of us to corner her and grab her... I don't want to stress her out... but, would like to know she's ok... My birds free range my backyard...

September is still pretty young.. I would venture to guess she's not laying eggs yet? I've found with many pullets that they are that way until they start laying. The sexual maturity seems to flip a switch in them and they start looking at life a whole new way. I'm not saying she'll change drastically, but I've had a really good number of pullets calm down after they start laying eggs. I have a trio of Dark Cornish pullets right now that are proving to be that way. They've been just like you describe, but are due to start laying and I've found a couple checking out nest boxes. There's been some extra little pullet eggs lately, too. And for the past week or so they've calmed down considerably. It used to be if they were in the coop and I walked in they'd all bounce against the walls like pingpong balls trying to get out and away from me, now they just stand there looking at me like: "hey, wassup".
I have a theory on it too, I think they are naturally flighty when young in order for self preservation from overly amorous young cockerels, since those boys tend to get a bit too pushy... just my theory though.
Hold on and be patient. She may calm down soon. My Dark Cornish were hatched in August, and are starting now. So it shouldn't be much longer for her.

 

[cactusrota]

Are they going to be the NN/Breese ones?

Remmy is blue wheaten, so they won't be white, but yes he is a double gene NN, so they will be half Bresse, and some will probably come out as single gene Nn.

 

[Jadesun6]

THANKS , i was feeling a bit off for a week and me being here all alone with 75 chickens that need me , i cant afford to ever be sick , so thank you for all your good wishes..

Sorry to hear you weren't feeling well. I know that is hard ehen people/pets/livestock/life in general are depending on you. For some reason I wasn't receiving notifications for this thread. I just thought everyone was busy!

 

[SonoranChick]

Sorry to hear you weren't feeling well. I know that is hard ehen people/pets/livestock/life in general are depending on you. For some reason I wasn't receiving notifications for this thread. I just thought everyone was busy!

That happens to me every once in a while, and I also used to think everyone was just busy at the same time! lol...then I figured out we AZ folks are a chatty bunch and if I'm not getting notifications it's usually because something is up with my alerts I think if I don't respond or write on the thread for a few days the alerts stop coming in, but I'm still not sure.

 

[Jadesun6]

That happens to me every once in a while, and I also used to think everyone was just busy at the same time! lol...then I figured out we AZ folks are a chatty bunch and if I'm not getting notifications it's usually because something is up with my alerts I think if I don't respond or write on the thread for a few days the alerts stop coming in, but I'm still not sure.

I had 4 pages to catch up on. I missed out on seeing adorable chicks! I can't wait to get more! I can't believe how addictive they are.

 

[DesertChic]

Just looking for suggestions... In September, I bought one of my hens hatching eggs, out of 9 eggs only one survived in a healthy manner....
View attachment 1251272View attachment 1251276that one baby is the most flighty chicken I've ever had... The other 5 hens, don't allow her to share when they are eating, and she is sooooo terrrified of "EVERYthing" that if I toss food to her away from the other birds she runs away... I don't know what to do for her... If we want to catch her, It takes two of us to corner her and grab her... I don't want to stress her out... but, would like to know she's ok... My birds free range my backyard...

Along with what @cactusrota said, which is very accurate, I might also suggest working with her individually to increase trust between you and her. It will require both time and patience, but could have impressive payoffs. Collect her and carry her around with you for quite a while, at least until she finally grows more calm and figures out that you're not going to kill her. Then, when you're ready to set her down, make sure you have food and/or treats that only she has access to. Eventually she will come to associate you with both safety and food, and feeding her separately from the other girls will allow her to put on a little weight while she continues to mature. Eventually she should be able to hold her own.

That said....someone's always got to be at the bottom of the pecking order. I've had hens that remained more nervous and flighty until they suddenly bonded with one or more other birds. Once they had a "friend" it was like safety in numbers. I've also had hens that just never fit in. They're not that much different from people in that way.

 

[nicollee]

I might also suggest working with her individually to increase trust between you and her. Then, when you're ready to set her down, make sure you have food and/or treats that only she has access to. Eventually she will come to associate you with both safety and food, and feeding her separately from the other girls will allow her to put on a little weight while she continues to mature. Eventually she should be able to hold her own

I've been trying to catch her when both me and hubby are out there... she is pretty crafty though... she hides in the tortoise den, where there is no way I'm crawling in after her....

She's quite a pretty little thing, isn't she! Too bad she's such a...well..."chicken" lol.

Thank-you.. Any idea what kind she is? I got a mixed lot, supposed to be mostly BCMarans, but the BCM's did not hatch out in the heat

September is still pretty young.. I would venture to guess she's not laying eggs yet? I've found with many pullets that they are that way until they start laying. The sexual maturity seems to flip a switch in them and they start looking at life a whole new way.

I really hope the "switch" goes off in her attitude... Since she hides in the tortoise den, I am praying that she does not decide to lay eggs in there....

Thank-you all for your answers... I feel bad for her since she is the only chicken from that batch.... do you think that if I got another couple of chicks, she might pair up with them?