Sit quietly in the large brooder for a long time, let the chicks get used to your presence. They will approach you, climb on you, look up at you with those adorable inquisitive eyes and you will think you're making such WONDERFUL progress in the way of acclimating your new girls to being around and handled by humans. Then sneeze. They will scatter as far as possible, flatten themselves to walls and floors and you will experience the chicken facial expression of pure shock and horror from your little chooks. Laughing at them will not calm them down, by the way. They will remain as flat, silent and frozen in terror until their little chicken hearts defibrillate and return to a normal rhythm. (i felt really bad, but do wish I had it on video)
Oh that made me laugh!!!! I did that myself this afternoon....I was sitting next to the brooder, watching all but one snooze...and I sneezed...scared the daylights out of them...and my dog, too, who happened to be hanging her head over the side to take a peek at the babies as well! I thought one of the babies would keel over and die, they jumped and scattered so fast!!!!!
Lol, I just snorted!!! I'm glad mine aren't the only ones who do this, hey mine are four weeks old, handled and treated every day, they all run to my hand when lowered into the brooder but one loud noise will send my friends running from me and becoming a pile of pancakes in the corners. I tell everybody who goes around them to whisper because their ears are sensitive!
