is it okay to put a hood over a chickens head?

[xogarb]

the same way we handle birds of prey, blocking their vision so they are calm during a physical exam. is it harmful to use a hood over a chickens head in the same way? weirdly i cant find anything on the topic online. it wouldn’t be a falconers hood obviously, just a light stocking net like we use in wildlife rehabs for big birds. just want to make sure it wouldn’t do more harm than good, since domesticated birds are just different in some ways.

*stocking nets are very light socks that stretch over the birds head to blind vision and lightly restrain the wings. on a chicken it would not be able to fit the wings and would only serve to calm the bird by blocking vision.*

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC.

I've never tried such a thing, but if it's commonly used on wild birds I can't see that it would be a problem for chickens. I have often calmed mine by putting my hand over their eyes when I needed to handle them.

 

[RoyalChick]

Welcome to BYC!
Weirdly I have done this quite successfully. I had a chick with some foot issues. I had to strap a boot on her and bandage various bits of her leg and give her physical therapy so her leg tendons stayed long and flexible while she was unable to walk.
This started when she was three weeks old (so tiny) and went on for multiple weeks.
I had to do this solo.
The only way I could find to handle her was to put her in the pocket I had cut out of some sweatpants. She wore the pocket like a hood and it extended down to cover her wings.
It worked a treat though she did always look like a hostage video when I was treating her!