Chickens scared of humans? Chicken behaviour therapy help please

[grayfish]

Hello!
I have a flock of 4, 1 is very friendly and she's at the top of the pecking order, but my 3 auricanas are NOT. If a human gets close to them they make very loud noises and freak out. This is a problem if one ever gets loose, or when we're trying to feed and collect eggs, because we live in a city.
Apparently my housemates got them years ago from a situation where they had little human contact.

Yesterday i got 2 of the 3 to eat out of my hand, which is an enormous feat. with a coop fence between us though, i'm not sure they'd do it without the fence
does anyone know how to get them LESS scared of humans?

it really sounds like you're trying to brutally murder them when you're 2 feet away usually

 

[1muttsfan]

Feed them treats and scratch grain every day (just enough for a treat, not so much to unbalance their diet). Before feeding them shake the grain in a container and call them. They will quickly learn that to get their treats they should come a-running. I feed my hens their favorite treats only in the run, never outside of it, so that they know to get treated they must go back inside the run. And they do, very happily.

 

[7L Farm]

Chickens are scared of everything its their nature. Spending more time with them will help. Sit in their run bring them treats & before you know it they will come running for the door when they see you coming. I have 60 something chickens but only one will jump in my lap. I free range mine but if I need to put them back in their coop I can shake a can of feed & get them back in their coop if need be.
I have three different coops & they only go into their coop none of them will sleep in any other coop just the one they were raised in. The three flocks run as three individual flocks they don't intermingle with the other flocks. Well, the roo will LOL.

 

[ChickiesInUtah]

We have five six week old pullets/maybe a rooster or two who moved out to their coop on Saturday. They are very skittish around me. Last night I sat in the coop and fed them crumbles out of my hand. Like you I considered that a huge feat! I figure they'll get somewhat used to us eventually. I might try shaking the treats in a container like muttsfan suggested.

My goal is to have them comfortable enough around me so I can easily catch one if needed. You should have seen me last night running after one. It was like something out of the Benny Hill Show.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Conditioning your pullets to be interactive with people is much more easily accomplished when it is begun when they are chicks in the brooder. A few days after the chicks have hatched, make a point of handling the chicks each and everyday...they need to get used to being handled and held so that when they are older they will not respond negatively to your presence. Get them to eat their chick feed out of your hand a few times each day...once they associate you with food, they will come to you whenever you enter the yard. I also make a soft clucking sound so that I will be able to call them when they get older. When they were first feathering out and going outside for the first time, I showed them where to find bugs and grubs in the garden...now they follow me as I walk about the yard doing my chores. If I find a bunch of moths or bugs...all I have to do is tap the ground a few times and they come running in to gobble up whatever food I have found for them.

If the flock consists of older birds, the process is more difficult, but not impossible. You may never be able to pick them up and hold them with out them getting excited, but you should be able to feed them and have them come to you.

You will need to make the effort to go out to the yard several times each day...morning and afternoon will work....and always bring a treat for the birds with you. You want the flock to think of food when they see you coming to the yard. Make a sound each time that you give them a treat...the same sound each time. You will be able to use this sound later to call them when you want hem to come to you, or when you are trying to get them into their coops & runs ahead of a storm or something. (I make a soft "Puck Puck Puck" sound, my kids laugh at me, but then they found that this also works for them when they go out into the backyard).

If the chickens won't come to you initially, then simply toss the treat to them and kneel down close to them while they eat it. But each time that you go to the yard you must bring a treat for them. Over time they will need to come closer and closer to you to get their treat. Eventually they will need to eat from your hand if they want to get their treat. In a week or so...they will come running to each time that they see you and they will start to follwo you as you walk about th yard.

 

[lablover]

Rock Home Isle, I'm glad to know that tapping the ground is common "human-to-chicken communication." I did that with my chicks, and it worked like a charm!

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Rock Home Isle, I'm glad to know that tapping the ground is common "human-to-chicken communication." I did that with my chicks, and it worked like a charm!

Isn't it just crazy the little things that these birds respond too.

 

[grayfish]

Wow! thanks! I've been going out with scratch once a day working on them. We're making progress! One came towards me this morning when she saw me instead of running away!

I'm working on it still, we'll see what happens over time. In the meantime i also just got 2 very tame chickens that won't eat out of my hands but will come close to me and can be picked up without making a fuss
The woman who I got them from calls them with a whistle, i'm still not settled on what kind of call to use but i should figure that out today

my one hen that is completely tame and sweet responds immediately to tapping the ground but not to me putting her on the spot with all the bugs
Thanks for all the tips everyone!

 

[grayfish]

Great photos by the way, rock home isle!!!

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Once they trust you and start coming to you, anything can be a treat for them. I found out today that my girls will enjoy a snack of some grape leaves.