Handling Skittish Chicks-- Do, or Don't?

[Growley Monster]

So I have 16 Brown Leghorn peeps in addition to one Blue Cochin, all a week in my custody as of today, shipped from McMurray so guessing 10 or 11 days old. The Cochin is totally okay with being picked up and everything. Not friendly or affectionate, but not terrified, either. He just sits there in the palm of my open hand and goes to sleep. I guess he is taking advantage of the peace and quiet, being away from the super hyper Leghorns madly dashing about, running into and over him and peep peep peeping at him to get outta the way. The Leghorns as per their nature, are pretty stand-offish, practically wild. They run around screaming in terror like a chicken fixing to get its head cut off, when a hand gets too close, even piling up all over each other in the corners of their box. My original thought was to pick them up regularly so that they would learn to tolerate humans around them, but they do not seem to get used to me at all. They don't really understand the concept of "treats" yet. I am a little concerned that they could injure each other in their corner pileups to escape the giant monster hand that reaches down and randomly seizes them and lifts them up into the sky. Should I refrain from handling them unnecessarily?

 

[Lisas chicken world]

I am going through the same thing with a batch of splash Amercaunas about 3 weeks old now. My batch that I got from TSC last year - calmed right down, ran up to me - and now wait to be held, chase me down to show me their eggs. They love me but have loved me since day one. I got the Ameracaunas from a little chicken farm outside of town. I have purchased from him 3 years ago. The chickens from him are all skittish. I didnt put 2 and 2 together. I got these about 3 weeks ago and it reminded me of the skittish Wyandottes I got from him 3 years ago. I thought maybe it was the breed at first but I know now that Ameracaunas are freindly not skittish - or so I thought until I got these - Im going to follow this thread and see if I can get any tips on bringing them out of their terror of me

 

[BigBlueHen53]

When it comes to Leghorns I'd ask @The Moonshiner .

I gave up on my leghorns, it just seemed to send them into a frenzy from day one, so I just continued to offer treats, and the EE I got at the same time became pretty tame, but the Leghorns never did. On the flip side, by the time they matured, I had lost a handful of EE to predation but never lost a Leghorn. So there's that. They are survivors!

 

[Sic]

So I have 16 Brown Leghorn peeps in addition to one Blue Cochin, all a week in my custody as of today, shipped from McMurray so guessing 10 or 11 days old. The Cochin is totally okay with being picked up and everything. Not friendly or affectionate, but not terrified, either. He just sits there in the palm of my open hand and goes to sleep. I guess he is taking advantage of the peace and quiet, being away from the super hyper Leghorns madly dashing about, running into and over him and peep peep peeping at him to get outta the way. The Leghorns as per their nature, are pretty stand-offish, practically wild. They run around screaming in terror like a chicken fixing to get its head cut off, when a hand gets too close, even piling up all over each other in the corners of their box. My original thought was to pick them up regularly so that they would learn to tolerate humans around them, but they do not seem to get used to me at all. They don't really understand the concept of "treats" yet. I am a little concerned that they could injure each other in their corner pileups to escape the giant monster hand that reaches down and randomly seizes them and lifts them up into the sky. Should I refrain from handling them unnecessarily?

Picking them up and whisking them away from the others isn't going to earn their confidence, it's likely to aggravate their flighty and skittish nature. Having calmer babies depends on how much time you want to invest. If I'm raising chicks instead of a hen doing it and I want them to be calm, I don't have food available 24/7. I bring some food, I whistle (a dog whistle) but you could use any sound to represent feeding time, and use my finger tapping to indicate food. Doing this many times per day and over the course of a few days I will have chicks excited to see me (to eat) and feel safe eating from my hand. When they're older and out free ranging they will still run to me like a ravenous pack of velociraptors looking for a handout, so I would say it's not always the best option as it tends to piss my roosters off.