How do you get chickens to stop being so skittish?

[Bruthabuz]

It depends not only on the breed but the individual hens themselves. Just like people have different personalities, so do hens. I have 35 birds of four different types. Within each type, there are some that are friendly and others that are not. My White Leghorns are the shiest. Only one of them lets me pick her up. When they are misbehaving, I call them the Ladies from Hades!

 

[Double Yolked]

I've always tended toward the calmer more placid breeds. That said, my tamest hen was a mutt Easter egger mix. So it's very individual. I DO know that you can set the tameness of a hen back by scaring them, even unintentionally, and encourage it by handling them as chicks. My tame girl was sick as a very young chick and I nursed her, after that she was bullied by other hens so she ended up being raised more indoors with me than in the flock. Even roo's can be tamed, the on in my avatar picture was a cheerful lap sitter.
Other than that, its up to you as to how much effort you want to put into having very tame chickens. Two hours a day? Three? Sit with them, spend time in the run with them and by that I mean hours. Take a project in and work on it, read a book. Not joking about the 2 to 3 hours a day. It works. But you need a lot of patience. A LOT! I personally think it can be very worth it. But it requires commitment. Good luck, it's a lot of fun.

 

[azygous]

There is actual science behind how easily or not a chicken will bond with you. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ding-agent-between-us-and-our-chickens.78307/

It boils down to a hormone called mesotocin, the poultry version of oxytocin, the human bonding hormone. If a chicken has enough receptors in their brain for this stuff, they will easily become a lap chicken, actually initiating closeness with their human in some cases.

It's possible to cultivate this hormone in skittish chickens by spending time with them and talking to them, but I've found they never reach the level of tameness that chickens with more receptors ior mesotocin in their brains do.

Generally speaking, chickens are genetically friendly or they are not as others have pointed out.

 

[DesertMouse]

There is actual science behind how easily or not a chicken will bond with you. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ding-agent-between-us-and-our-chickens.78307/

It boils down to a hormone called mesotocin, the poultry version of oxytocin, the human bonding hormone. If a chicken has enough receptors in their brain for this stuff, they will easily become a lap chicken, actually initiating closeness with their human in some cases.

It's possible to cultivate this hormone in skittish chickens by spending time with them and talking to them, but I've found they never reach the level of tameness that chickens with more receptors ior mesotocin in their brains do.

Generally speaking, chickens are genetically friendly or they are not as others have pointed out.

This makes a lot of sense. People have a genetic predisposition to being gregarious or stand-offish. They can work at it to a point, but they are what they are. Makes sense that chickens and other animals would be the same.

 

[Double Yolked]

There is actual science behind how easily or not a chicken will bond with you. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ding-agent-between-us-and-our-chickens.78307/

......

Generally speaking, chickens are genetically friendly or they are not as others have pointed out.

This is actually a really good reason to pay attention to breed personality lists. Orpingtons for instance have a reputation for being easy going. (Not always true.....but often so) The more aggressive or wild breeds are well observed and noted.
Of course, it's really difficult that some of the wilder breeds are also so darn pretty! And of course, most of us with chicken fever want them ALL.