Inside pullet afraid of the outdoors

pbjmaker

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We have a little serama pullet that we got as a week old chick and raised inside all winter as a singleton. When I hatched chicks in January we tried to slowly introduce her to them - she cowered in the corner. Now that it is nice out I want her to move outside with the other chickens. If we put her with the January chicks in their garage brooder, she is OK with their company, but even they are going outside during the day now. We put her in the coop on Saturday and she hunkered down in the corner with her back to the world. I left her like that for a couple of hours but she wouldn't move. Just now I took her outside and sat in a lawn chair with the 7 week old chicks around my feet. When I set her on the ground she panicked and flew into the shed wall. So I picked her up again and just sat with her on my chest (she was trying to see how high she could climb me) She just kind of panted and closed her eyes on and off. I figured it was stressing her out and brought her inside. She jumped right into her cage.
She is about 16 weeks old.

How can I acclimate her to the outside? It was never my intention to have a house chicken. Although she is the ideal size, I am guessing she doesn't even weigh 1 lb.
 
Hmmm....send her to me and I will sew her a diaper and make her my office chicken!

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Seriously it's time to start going out for a little while everyday. Put the entire brooder (or cage, whatever) outside with her in it. Walk away so you don't have to watch her fear. She'll get over it in time. Then you can incrementally leave her out a little longer each time. When you're outside with her, encourage her to come out with some yummy treats tossed in the grass.
 
Hmmm I don't know, poor little girl. I would think that she would just have to get used to it, but safely. Maybe put her and a friend in a small cage on the grass. That way she couldn't hurt herself and having a friend close by may make her feel more secure?
 
I think that is her biggest problem - she was raised alone with only humans for company - she has no friends. My daughter has her out with the "January" chicks right now. They (my daughter and her friend) took her next door and weighed her. She weighs 8/10ths of a pound. The chicks are mostly bigger than her.
 
She'll be fine eventually- she just doesn't know how to be a chicken right now. A friend "inherited" a former school project chicken raised for quite some time in a birdcage without other chicken companionship. She was completely clueless for 2-3 months and afraid of everything. After being around the other chickens for a while she finally figured out she was one and went on to live a happy and productive life as a full-fledged flock member. I like the idea of penning her up outside with a congenial companion (or two) for a period of time every day; that way she can make friends, realize she's a chicken, and get used to the big wide world.
 

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