Friendly Chickens

[bigblueteach]

New to chickens. Anytime I go to the coop they run off. I’ve tried meal worms, etc. Always skittish when I come around. 8 weeks old and had them as baby chicks. What can I do to help

 

[Debbie292d]

I'd try scrambled eggs instead of mealworms as that's way better for them and they should go nuts over them too.

It seems they go through a stage like this so don't be discouraged. Keep talking in a soft voice to them and move slow around them. They will come around.

 

[nuthatched]

Generally, they don't calm down until after they start laying.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

New to chickens. Anytime I go to the coop they run off. I’ve tried meal worms, etc. Always skittish when I come around. 8 weeks old and had them as baby chicks. What can I do to help

I used to just sit on a folding chair in the coop with a book or my phone, ignoring them. Eventually curiosity (and Trader Joe’s raw sliced almonds) won out and they would come over for quick skritches. They still aren’t lap chickens though, which is fine with me.

I didn’t get them until they were 7 1/2 weeks old.

Didn’t hit the easy-to-pick-up stage until they started squatting for me (!) right before starting to lay.

 

[WingItRanch]

This is their teenage stage. Pretty normal! I agree that if you just sit quietly out there with them to get used to your presence, it will help. Don't try to reach for them but let them come to you. Maybe try putting a bowl of mash (normal feed with water) or scrambled egg at your feet while you sit still.

They'll get friendlier once they start laying eggs!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I don't expect my chickens to be lap pets. I know some people do and that's great (I have 20, not 4). Chickens are prey animals. They are hard-wired not to be picked up. Anything that picks up a chicken generally plans to eat it. My granddaughter, at age 11, made a pet of one of the chickens though I advised against it. Guess what? A predator got it. Why? Because she tamed its fear out of it and while the other chickens scattered, her pet sat right there and allowed itself to be picked up and carried away. They're birds. Let them be birds.