I have a few questions about BO mixes. I feel in love with the looks of the breed and from what I had read they sounded like very sweet birds. I was also hoping they'd go broody on me next year so I could possibly hatch out a couple of eggs. We bought our BO mixes about 3 weeks ago and were told they were 4-5 weeks old at the time. They were raised very free range, they had coops with attached runs that had the people doors open all day long. They had a bunch of space to forage and the owners land backed up to a foresty type area so they had alot of space to roam. The owner had a small child (about 4-ish) and she was able to catch & carry almost all of the chicks & adult chickens they had, except for these 2 BO mixes. The poor woman had a tough time catching them and since we have gotten them home so do we. I have them in a coop/run close to the same size as hers and they do get to free range but in a much smaller fenced in yard. My BO's are flighty, skiddish, and seem terrified of us. At first they were just a pain in the butt to round up when range time was over and I wanted them back in their coop, but now when I try to go in to feed them or give them water or clean up and stuff they run and hide from me. If Im working in the coop, they hide in the run and vice versa. If I even look at them for longer than a few seconds they channel their inner road runner and take off.
Now for my questions. Will this ever change? Will they ever get over their fear of my kids & I? What can I do to make them less scared of me? I offer treats but they refuse to come out of hiding until I step away, and if I stay nearby they will watch me closely and bounce around from one side of the feeder to the other very nervously. Is this healthy for them? Im actually starting to worry that I could scare them to death or something. Latelty I have even debated whether or not to let them free range because they are so difficult to get back inside. The yard is shared with dogs and 2 cats. One of my dogs will run up to the chickens run to spook them a little but the chicks just cluck a little and go back to what they were doing, and the cats just watch them. I keep the dogs inside during range time but after about an hour the dogs are desperate to get outside and I need to get back inside to get stuff done inside. I let them out twice a day and it is usually for about an hour each time. My RSL's will let me pick them up and put them back in their coop/run the only time they try to get away from me is when they have found something very interesting in my veggie garden and just dont want to leave it. Otherwise they will walk right up to us, stand on our feet, let us hold them & pet them while they are just wondering around. There is no catching involved with my RSL's you just pick them up and they let you. They dont try to fly away or anything. Will it ever be like this with my BO's? Here is pic of my BO mixes
I was never told what they are mixed with. The woman I bought them from had 1-2 roosters and one of them is a BO. She had a bunch of hens (1 BO, 1 wyandotte, and a bunch more) and she was fairly confident that the BO roo was the daddy but unsure of the mother. Please dont think Im asking to identify what they are mixed with Im just putting it out there incase the mix of parentage could have bred these qualities into my BO mix chicks.
Now for my questions. Will this ever change? Will they ever get over their fear of my kids & I? What can I do to make them less scared of me? I offer treats but they refuse to come out of hiding until I step away, and if I stay nearby they will watch me closely and bounce around from one side of the feeder to the other very nervously. Is this healthy for them? Im actually starting to worry that I could scare them to death or something. Latelty I have even debated whether or not to let them free range because they are so difficult to get back inside. The yard is shared with dogs and 2 cats. One of my dogs will run up to the chickens run to spook them a little but the chicks just cluck a little and go back to what they were doing, and the cats just watch them. I keep the dogs inside during range time but after about an hour the dogs are desperate to get outside and I need to get back inside to get stuff done inside. I let them out twice a day and it is usually for about an hour each time. My RSL's will let me pick them up and put them back in their coop/run the only time they try to get away from me is when they have found something very interesting in my veggie garden and just dont want to leave it. Otherwise they will walk right up to us, stand on our feet, let us hold them & pet them while they are just wondering around. There is no catching involved with my RSL's you just pick them up and they let you. They dont try to fly away or anything. Will it ever be like this with my BO's? Here is pic of my BO mixes
I was never told what they are mixed with. The woman I bought them from had 1-2 roosters and one of them is a BO. She had a bunch of hens (1 BO, 1 wyandotte, and a bunch more) and she was fairly confident that the BO roo was the daddy but unsure of the mother. Please dont think Im asking to identify what they are mixed with Im just putting it out there incase the mix of parentage could have bred these qualities into my BO mix chicks.
