These are gorgeous birds with beautiful eggs and qualities. I live in the hot humid Deep South. Would love to know if these birds are friendly and like to be handled? Again love the article and you all have beautiful birds. Thank you
Friendly, to a point. Like to be handled, absolutely not. They are not human aggressive. They just prefer not to have human contact.
I much admire their aloof nature. They avoid anything not chicken. I believe that is what assures their survival in a free range situation.
They are not too bad in a flock but don't handle confinement well. If you were to walk into a pen with a single bird, it would kill itself trying to get out of the pen. The term flighty which is used for all Mediterranean class breeds I believe is a misnomer. While some, like Leghorns or Buttercups may fly, these prefer to run. It isn't that they can't fly but they do so as a last resort. If cornered, they can fly to the roof of a building but if not pressed, they are more likely to crawl under than fly over a 3' fence. I've kept flocks of roosters inside a 2' fence. As such, they are easy keepers.
My Partridge Penedesencas are the most freaked-out birds I have. Most of my chickens, when I have to catch them up, will settle down after I get a secure hold on them. Not my Penes. They scream like they are being murdered the whole time. Even a lot of my Pene crosses do this too.
This year I ordered Crele Penes from Welp. They seem pretty skittish. I haven’t had to catch them up yet, so I don’t know if they will scream like the Partridge.
Of course, this is with me not out there trying to make pets out of my birds. Maybe it would be different if I had been playing with them since day one in the brooder.
I concur.
This is true especially when they are young or alone. As a flock they will come up to you once they are a year old and realize you aren't going to eat them - yet.
If I need to handle them to do anything, like move them to another building, read their wing band #, check for lice/mites, etc., I have to do so when they go to roost at dusk. They are rather docile then. Plucking them off the roost before dawn is a completely different story. That's when they scream bloody murder.
I do know that daily frequent handling when they are small will alter that behavior but I don't do that. I like them wild.
I know people who have tamed them but I don't have that kind of time.
