Hen Behavior

[Melrow1015]

Hi all! This is probably a dumb question but we just got these 7 lavender orpington hens about 8 days ago. They’re all about a year and a half old. They're very flighty and don’t seem to trust humans very much. When we do catch them (because we have had to for various reasons, otherwise we let them come to us with treats) they do seem to enjoy being held, although they’re still a bit cautious. My husband, our 3 year old and I have been regularly giving them treats by hand and a few have eaten out of our hands already. It’s been a very slow process in getting them to trust us. Just today we had to treat 3 of them for bumblefoot. We soaked each of them in epsom salt and warm water for about 10 minutes and then my husband would extract the infection and dress the wound while I held each one wrapped up in a towel up against me. Each chicken I think took maybe 15 minutes. The second one we worked on had one on each foot so she took a bit longer but she was much calmer than the other two who were unfortunately trembling almost the entire time. When I set the second one down to release her into the coop I unwrapped her and to our surprise she just laid there on her side for a good half minute or so just looking around and then got up and walked away from us. I’m not sure if she was just in shock, pain, or if she just enjoyed being held for so long. The first one we worked on she ripped her bandage off so my husband had to catch her again and she actually hunkered down for him to pick her up which is also a first. Are these good signs?

 

[Sally PB]

I'd say yes! For year and a half old chickens who have been in a new place for just a week, they seem to be very accepting of you. Keep up with the gentle interactions. Move slowly around them (especially your 3 year old), let them come to you. Make the interactions between you and the chickens as positive as possible.

And,

 

[ChickyCh00k]

I agree with Sally! They are likely very stressed by the new surroundings/people in their lives (slow and steady wins the race ).

Side note:

This article on wrapping chicken feet has been an absolute necessity in my chicken keeping life. If you follow the instructions in the article, you will not have any foot wraps falling/ripped off!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/how-to-correctly-wrap-a-chickens-foot.77028/

(P.S. be sure to wear gloves when treating bumblefoot).

 

[Melrow1015]

I'd say yes! For year and a half old chickens who have been in a new place for just a week, they seem to be very accepting of you. Keep up with the gentle interactions. Move slowly around them (especially your 3 year old), let them come to you. Make the interactions between you and the chickens as positive as possible.

And,

That’s relieving! This is our first flock so we hope we’re doing things right. Our son is thankfully very gentle around animals and he adores giving them mealworm treats . Once they see him with the bag the braver ones immediately perk up and have started to come over to him. They seem to be getting used to his toddler antics too. It’s hard to make an excited toddler move slow and not squeal when one of them gets close .

And thank you!

 

[Melrow1015]

I agree with Sally! They are likely very stressed by the new surroundings/people in their lives (slow and steady wins the race ).

Side note:

This article on wrapping chicken feet has been an absolute necessity in my chicken keeping life. If you follow the instructions in the article, you will not have any foot wraps falling/ripped off!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/how-to-correctly-wrap-a-chickens-foot.77028/

(P.S. be sure to wear gloves when treating bumblefoot).

Thank you so much! We will definitely be reading this and yes we made sure to wear gloves. We don’t want staph

 

[BigBlueHen53]

A helpful note here: sometimes it's easier to work with chickens at night if they're hard to catch during the day. Yours sound very good to handle, though, lucky you! But for example especially in the heat of the day it can be dangerous to chase chickens, it can be too stressful. But waiting until they are roosting can be helpful because you can just pluck them off the roost. They don't see well in the dark and they don't resist much. This can be handy for medicating, worming, etc.

 

[ChickyCh00k]

Thank you so much! We will definitely be reading this and yes we made sure to wear gloves. We don’t want staph

You'd be surprised how many people don't wear gloves . A lot of people aren't aware that bumblefoot is caused by staph and/or that humans can contract it from the chicken(s)... glad you're protecting yourselves!

I have gone back to that foot wrapping article more times than I can count. It is tremendously helpful!

 

[Sally PB]

But waiting until they are roosting can be helpful because you can just pluck them off the roost. They don't see well in the dark and they don't resist much. This can be handy for medicating, worming, etc.

I have a headlamp with a red light that I use if I need to take a bird off the roof at night. They don't see red the way we do, so I can see enough to do what I need to do. They know something is there, but they don't go crazy. This works really well for me.

That said, I get in and get the bird, and leave. The longer I'm in there, the more likely they are to get agitated.