Confused by chick behavior

[Fluffy_Butt_Hutt]

On the positive side, chickens who aren't lap chickens are much better at keeping themselves safe. It keeps them aware.
I cannot get mine to follow me with food. It feels like I have better chances getting them to follow me through just walking and talking. I do time when I give out treats and food, so maybe they are so scheduled that they don't expect extras outside of that time? They literally refuse/don't recognize treats outside of set times.

 

[LaurenRitz]

On the positive side, chickens who aren't lap chickens are much better at keeping themselves safe. It keeps them aware.
I cannot get mine to follow me with food. It feels like I have better chances getting them to follow me through just walking and talking. I do time when I give out treats and food, so maybe they are so scheduled that they don't expect extras outside of that time? They literally refuse/don't recognize treats outside of set times.

Or they've adjusted their schedules to accommodate your habits. I notice with my own birds that if I go out outside of "normal" feeding time they're mostly indifferent. They have learned that they're not getting fed except at certain times.

I still get an escort of curious birds, but they're not running after me.

 

[Project Blue]

On the positive side, chickens who aren't lap chickens are much better at keeping themselves safe. It keeps them aware.
I cannot get mine to follow me with food. It feels like I have better chances getting them to follow me through just walking and talking. I do time when I give out treats and food, so maybe they are so scheduled that they don't expect extras outside of that time? They literally refuse/don't recognize treats outside of set times.

I keep hoppers filled with regular feed and they get treats and cleaning when I have time which is highly irregular. What treats are you giving? I never met a chicken that refused mealworms or corn on the cob. Maybe I could go on a schedule and save money, or at least stop being mobbed in a feeding frenzy. I did watch more carefully when they mob me and noticed the Wyndottes stay on the fringes. The RIR's are looking more and more suspicious as the ring leaders even though I still have a group I separated out that still swarms.