Cockerel skittish and very afraid of me..

[Peggysaurus]

Hello, everyone!

I have a 7 1/2-week-old cockerel who is deathly afraid of me. He will immediately run away from me when I get near, and when I try to pick him up he runs in all sorts of directions to try to get away. I am afraid he will hurt himself in the future. He even will run into and tramble some of his smaller siblings in the process. Another fear I have is that once he gets his spurs he will try to hurt me in self-defense. Is there any way I can get him to trust me, or will I have to give him away?

 

[Feath3rDust3r]

Hello, everyone!

I have a 7 1/2-week-old cockerel who is deathly afraid of me. He will immediately run away from me when I get near, and when I try to pick him up he runs in all sorts of directions to try to get away. I am afraid he will hurt himself in the future. He even will run into and tramble some of his smaller siblings in the process. Another fear I have is that once he gets his spurs he will try to hurt me in self-defense. Is there any way I can get him to trust me, or will I have to give him away?

Just be patient with him and don't try to pick him up. If you spend time sitting and feed treats he'll be ok with you. This age is always very skittish. If you think about it probably the only time he spends with you is when you're trying to catch him. He needs to see you as dominant to him so once he's comfortable with you when you pet him and hold him be sure to gently push his head down into a submissive position. That way he knows you're the boss and won't try to fight. In my experience chickens don't attack out of fear...they tend to stay away or run!