RebeccaBoyd
Crossing the Road
I hate that you feel this way but trust that you are doing the best thing for them right now. I have broke quarantine before, but that was before this current avian flu outbreak. If a huge hatchery can be affected with their bio-security protocols anyone can.You should quarantine any birds you add to your flock regardless of the source. Imagine if the hatchery had bird flu and they discovered it after I had mixed the new birds with mine. I need to wait out the incubation timetable to be safe but I hate it.
So much so that I may just play out these chickens and let my adventure come to an end. I'm really concerned that I am going to wind up with chickens that just live here and want to have nothing to do with me. I'm really not enjoying this.
Please though do not loose hope on having friendly chickens out of that group. Besides the day she hatched I have not been able to so much as touch Karen due to Momma hen. I was only able to do that because momma still had 2 eggs under her and she did not come off the nest. Karen is 10 weeks old, and we will call her semi-feral thanks to her rearing. Last night was the 2nd time I touched her. I could have chased her all over the yard trying to catch her yesterday when I realized momma was done with her, but I did not. I played it smart. I waited until it was dark and she was on the roost. I then grabbed a bucket to stand on and real quickly grabbed her off the roost. She was terrified and shrieking. It was heartbreaking in a way to feel her shaking so bad as I packed her inside to my room. As soon as I had the door shut I set her down for a few minutes so she could calm down.
She stood like this for 5 minutes I think too scared to move. Now I'm softly talking to her the whole time not moving either.
After that few minutes I slowly leaned forward to pick her up, she started to panic and bolted into the corner. I gently grabbed her and sat down with her and stood her on my lap. The whole time I'm softly and calmly talking to her. She is back to violently shaking. I kept both hands on her for a few minutes gently holding her in a standing position on my leg. I then kept one hand on her back and used the other to start rubbing her crop. Slowly the shaking started to subside. That was my cue to start softly stroking the back of her neck. I have found all my chickens enjoy a body massage. They especially love the base of their neck rubbed and will melt. Karen is no different. A few seconds of that and on her own, no added pressure at all she sat down on my leg. That was when I turned on the camera. Again, the entire time softly talking. I even took breaks rubbing and gently placed my hand in front of her chest. She could have jumped up then and there and bolted. She did not as you can see in these pictures.
I also showed you the 2 video's last night. In total I think she sat on my lap for about 20 minutes last night. After she had completely calmed down, and even started making happy chick noises I thought it best to end it on good terms. I packed her back out and placed her back on the roost beside Cricket and Lilly where she was sleeping. I'm hoping now those 3 become a unit on their own. Russ also had another midnight ride last night so when I was putting him up I reached up and stroked Lilly and Crickets crop for a minute which they love. I then did the same to Karen for maybe 10 seconds. Not long enough to scare her and make her come down.
I had to do the same to Basil and Squirrel when Momma Hen was done with them last spring. They turned out super friendly and there is hope for Karen. I will do last nights routine nightly for over a week. My goal is to be able to pick her up during the day without a fuss. She never has to be a lap chicken, but I need to be able to handle her incase of a emergency. Treats will not be used for the first few days of the new nightly routine. I want her to associate me more with just the giver of food. I really want her to enjoy and look forward to those massages on their own.
The point of this long post is when quarantine is over your 3 will be younger then 10 weeks. You have time to make them friendly. Also who is to say after all the other members of your tribe are in bed at night right now you cannot bring them one by one inside each night for a few minutes on their own and try this with them. You may find they enjoy it and will warm up to you both very fast.
