Can I start this thread with a mad face???

[wendy]

ouch! the toes

 

[hisbride]

Wren~ you're guess is as good as mine. I don't know what their deal is. You;d think after pecking me and realizing I'm not for eating they'd stop but they pecking. I don't want to swat them because I don't want to make the Red Stars nervous and scared of me. Oh well I guess I will just have to be satisfied with watching them and having the eggs....but I really wanted pet chicks

 

[jessied1227]

I would have to saay my three barred rock girls are my most curious girls. If I do get pecked, it is those 3, 9 times out of 10.
All my girls are very sweet, but the barred rocks are named Sassy, Saucy and Pest. Sassy is by far the worst offender. I am a sandal wearer in the summer and she LOVES to get my toes.

Most of my girls will allow themselves to be picked up, but it's something I do every day. I want them to be tame and gentle, so I make a point to pick them all up and have them used to being handled. They all come a running for me when I come outside.

Anyway, maybe if you just started picking them up more, or just sitting with them they would become less flighty?
Good luck-
Jess

 

[yearofthedog]

I have a silver laced wyandotte, a red sex link and a buff orpington. Though they are all friendly and let me pick them up, my buff orpington is by far the nicest. She will hop on my arm, leg, shoulder, head whenever she gets the chance. I think I lucked out with her, she's been like that since she was a couple of weeks old and the red star and SLW watch her and take cues from her. But, I have been hand feeding them treats from the get go and always get down to their level when I "tell them stories" and talk to them. And, I always make eye contact with them(I don't know if that's the WRONG thing to do with chickens, but that's what I've been doing since I got them!) when I'm talking to them.

 

[missfitfarm]

i have a barred rock her name is darky (daughter named her) and she is a sweet heart she loves to be held and petted but she wont stand still on the ground and let you pat her she will come running up to you and wait for you to pick her up she gets in that crouching position and just waits to be lifted up she is not mean at all. i also have a rhoade island red who is even sweeter she is my favorite but i dont tell the others that she will walk around in the barn and talk to me the whole time im in there cleaning horse stalls if i talk back to her she talks even more if i ignore her which i dont do often she will just stare at me untill i say her name which is peep and start sqwalking away i also have a bantam named chicken little who is also friendly a silkie rooster named pimp he is some what of a wimp and runs from you when you want to catch him but once you have him he will sit on your lap all day he also likes to sit on the bantys eggs when she gets up to eat he is a little confused im happy to say chicken littles eggs hatched 5 little silkie/bantam crosses who are as cute as can be i also had a white chicken not sure of her breed she is the same size as the rir and barred rock her name was trouble and she passed away a few days ago broke my heart who woulda thought you could cry over a chicken is it just me or do these little ones find a way to your heart. i think the more you handle them and talk to them the friendlier they get

 

[hisbride]

misfitfarm~so sorry for your loss.

It is a little difficult to give attention to 25 chickens. Honestly there are just a few that I am partial too but those Barred Rocks keep me from getting near them. Oh well.
The coop they are in is not easy to get in and out of currently since my husband put netting across the top to keep out hawks but mostly to keep the chickens from flying out. I want to clip the wings but DH says they look bad when you do that. I think it looks fine. Our other 3 ladies are clipped. He is afraid if we try to sell them people won't buy them. I think it is a plus that it is already done.

 

[Lunachick]

Don't give up hisbride, keep trying to pick them up gently and hold them til they stop squirming, once they settle down then let them go. They'll get it. I'm sure there will always be a couple that don't want to be bothered. My Red Stars are very friendly. After foraging around in the yard they come up to me at the patio table and chatter then jump up onto the table and "talk" that's when I'll gently grab one and stroke her neck then let her go. They start coming back more and more. You'll see.

 

[Jsto]

I agree, the pecking probably isn't meant to be malicious or anything. Look how they peck each other. Yes, sometimes it's when they're in a scuffle, but I think it's kind of how they communicate what they want in a way. My SLW is incredibly sweet, loves to hop up on me, but my God how that bird can peck! She started young too....I now have a crator on my arm where a freckle used to be. I think it's a bit of curiousity as well.

What I do is peck back, as another chick would do, followed by a stern 'no'. I don't know if the no actually has any effect, but when I gently 'peck' back with my thumb and forefinger, she quits. Working well for me.

As for them being a bit skittish, like others said, just hold them. Don't succumb when they start squirming or putting up a fuss. I got my silkie when she was already 3-4 weeks old so she wasn't near as friendly or tame as my others. I would just pick her up, cocooned in my hands, and gently blow warm air on her back. I gently rub under her wing with my thumb or pet her neck. She generally goes right to sleep. Now that she's older, she's still not as forthcoming as the others, but once I can get her, she doesn't mind being held. She'll also hop up on my hand when I sit still for a while.

 

[Mulemom]

I have a sugestion for the netting that is keeping you out. We were not able to find 6ft wire like we wanted for our run, so we went with the 4ft. The netting goes up this weekend and we are planning to use a center pole to hold the netting up like a tent. That way we can still get in there with them.

 

[poppycat]

Hisbride- don't throw in the towel just yet! I'm on my second round of chickens raised from chicks and they seem to go through a pesky adolescent phase where they are flighty and pecky and generally annoying. But once they get to laying age they calm down. Also once they figure out what's food and what's not they will stop pecking on your fingers. It just takes them a while.

Mine all were like yours and now all but one will tolerate being held. I also have two that actually snuggle a little. And I havn't had a finger pecked in a long time. Unfortunately their beak is their way of exploring new things (buttons, painted nails, rings etc.) and sometimes it hurts, but I don't think they're being aggressive. Just curious.