friendly chicks, skittish chicks

[DunstableChicks]

I purchased 4 golden sex link chicks from the local Agway 3 months ago. They were about a week old. My backyard chicken experience began and I couldn't be happier. I handled them often fed them by hand and they are now the friendliest of young birds. They run to me when I come to their pen, hop up on my lap for snacks, cluck in the sweetest of tones. Wanting a couple more, I purchased 2 brown leghorn chicks. They were a bit older when I got them - about 3 weeks old. They are sooo skittish I can't seem to find any way to make "friends" with them. They just freak out any time I get near them and it seems so stressful to them that I just care for them with minimal interaction. Is this just the way this breed is? Is this due to 3 weeks in a farm store? Will they ever come around? What, if anything can I do to help them to adapt to life with humans? And then there is the question I am sure has been posted on this site a million times - how and when should I introduce them to the other girls?

 

[TwoCrows]

Welcome to BYC!

This is the quail section of the forums and this thread may get moved to another section.

You might want to post this same question in the Chicken Behaviors section of the forums where you will no doubt get more answers than you will here.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/18/chicken-behaviors-and-egglaying

But, all this being said....All chickens have their personalities and of course the way they were raised from hatch definitely has an impact on how they interact with humans. Some breeds are more docile and friendly, and others are a bit more stand-offish or even scared of us. Leghorns can be pretty skittish around humans and they generally don't warm up to us, however there are exceptions to every rule.

Being that you did not raise these Leghorns yourself, they don't yet see you as someone they can trust. They may even see you as a predator that might eat them. So the best thing you can do to change this is to work with them. It will take time and they may never fully come around. But you may get them to settle down a bit. Go out with them with a bag of treats. Sit down in the run and feed them some mealworms, raisins or pieces of bread. Do this every day for a few weeks or months. At first they are going to be scared of you. Always move very slowly around them. Don't try to pick them up for a while. Just sit with them and let them be themselves. Eventually they will calm down once they learn you are no threat.

As for mixing them...Since your original chicks are still young, you can try mixing them right away, however this does not always work. If you see too much aggression in the original flock you may need to keep both flocks separate but in view to each other for a few weeks. Keep a fence between the two so they can see and get right up to them, but nobody actually touches. After a few weeks, generally they have made enough peace that mixing them is easier.

Some folks will also tell you to quarantine the new birds for several weeks in case the new flock has any diseases. You don't want to endanger your original flock.

Good luck with your new babies!