Hand Raised versus Farm Bought

[talea]

Hi everyone,

I have eight Indian Game (Cornish) chickens, four hens and four roosters.

We have raised five of them from when they were 2 weeks old and they absolutely love human attention, love being around you when you are in the pen and don't mind too much when you pick them up.

The other three we purchased from a farm about two months ago and they are a little bit older than our first five. They are so scared of humans, wont take food from you and freak out when you go near them in the pen.

I have been trying to spend a little bit of time with them to show them that we aren't these big scary things but they just don't seem to be settling as well. One of the new hens we purchased is fairly good looking for her breed and we would love to show her but because she is hard to catch and wont settle in your hands, we know the judges are going to mark her down for that.

Does anyone have any ideas or tips as to how we can get the new chickens used to humans and being held, caught and hand fed?

Thanks!!

 

[oswald808]

you could try only feeding them at certain times a day...with my browns everytime i'd shake a container of food they'd come running. they were partially hand raised though

 

[talea]

Yeah I've tried that, one hand raised ones come running but the others just look at me like I'm crazy haha

 

[sumi]

I found the easiest way to tame a chicken is by spending time with it and letting it associate you with good things, like treats. I've actually been working on a fairly wild chicken for the past week myself. Everytime I visit her I take her something nice to eat and spent a little time just talking to her. I'm making progress, but I'm aware I may never have her completely tame. Once chickens have reached a certain age it gets very difficult to get them comfortable with being handled. If yours are still young give them treats, sit down near them and talk to them and offer them treats from your hands. Eventually they may come up to you for the treat and you can take it from there then. Good luck!