Is it possible to re-socialise a chicken?

[Keeperofmunchkins]

I have one hen in my flock who was one of the first batch of chickens I got three years ago. They were given to me as a gift as six one week old chicks. They were so terrified when I got them and I was completely new to chickens and a little bit scared of them tbh, so I ended up hardly handling them.

Well it turned out five out of six were male and the most skittish chick of all was the only female. I rehomed the cockerels and got a few more chickens, then a few more and a few more etc. The longer I kept chickens the more I fell for them and started handling them from hatch a lot more.

So my other chickens have all turned out fairly friendly, except that one first hen. She is the first to run toward me for treats but hates to be touched. With the others I crouch down and slowly approach from the front and they let me pick them up. Some of them will jump on my lap just to preen themselves or have a sit down. They let me carry them around for a short time no problem. But the first hen loathes to be picked up. She struggles and shrieks. She runs away if I get too close. She is top of the pecking order so is definitely not scared of the other chickens, only people.

My question is, is there anything I can do now to make her more friendly/less scared of being handled? I already feed her treats by hand as close as possible. I don't chase her or shout near her. I try to move as calmly around her as possible. I sit down among the chickens and let them come to me.

Does anyone have ideas or experience in this kind of thing?

 

[SueT]

Just don't pick her up. In my experience most chickens do not like to be picked up. Consider yourself lucky if some of them do.

 

[coach723]

I think the way you have been doing it is the best way. Some birds just don't like being handled, they are all very individual in that way. I have some that are very friendly and curious and will sit or perch on me, and some that, like yours, loathe being handled. I just leave them be unless I need to pick them up for some reason, like checking for injuries, etc. Those ones get wrapped in a towel when I need to check them out, otherwise I just don't stress them out.

 

[azygous]

I've discovered from personal experience that chickens have as complex emotional lives as we humans. Emotional trauma while a baby chick can follow a chicken throughout its life. My case in point is my 9 1/2 year old SLW Lilith that I got as a baby chick.

She was in a batch of eight Wyandotte chicks that were my very first that I raised. I set up a cardboard box brooder on the floor in a spare room. I reached down inside the box to handle my chicks. I was getting more and more concerned because they were becoming more fearful as days passed, instead of getting more relaxed and friendly. I had no clue what was wrong.

These chicks were nearly grown by the time I became a regular visitor to this site. It was chick season again when I saw many threads posted by people who were lamenting how fearful their chicks were. It soon dawned on me that the common thread was handling chicks by leaning over them and thrusting hands down to grab them. The next light bulb that clicked on was associating the maneuver with a predator swooping down for a kill, which would terrify any chicken.

After I had this revelation, many of us shared experiences and the astonishing results of handling chicks from the side, rather than from above. These chicks were mostly friendly and tame from the beginning. When setting up subsequent brooders, I took this into consideration, and my chicks were all quite relaxed and friendly ever since.

Back to Lilith. Sadly, the damage had been done, and she has never enjoyed being handled. However, in her dotage, she is becoming more accepting of my assistance. She still complains when I touch her, but it seems she's accepted it as a reasonable trade-off for my rescuing her from being bullied and helping her get down from the roost every morning.

You're definitely on the right track. Keep doing what you're doing with your old girl. Patience and respecting her wishes to be handled only minimally will pay off over the long haul.

 

[Keeperofmunchkins]

Thanks for the replies. What I was thinking about is the possibility of training chickens to behave more the way we want them to.

For example, if a rooster becomes aggressive there are steps to take to teach it who is boss and stop the behaviour. Another example is when people adopt ex battery hens. When they arrive they are timid and scared but with encouragement and freedom they can become braver and presumably more friendly with their new owners. Mature chickens can and do change their behaviour to a degree with changes to how they are treated.

Obviously the way I treated my oldest hen as a chick shaped her personality as well as perhaps her breed's nature. But are there ways to potentially retrain her?

I realise she doesn't like to be touched and I agree to an extent with the argument that I should respect that and leave her be unless absolutely essential... BUT isn't that also true of baby chicks? That they naturally are wary of us and prefer not to be handled but we effectively force them to become used to us by handling them repeatedly? Its a tricky balance. Not handling my hen enough and in the right way is part of what caused her to be fearful of human touch in the first place. Isn't it true that handling chicks scares them at first, but only by facing their fears and realising that nothing bad actually happens can they overcome those fears?

With that in mind, could it possibly be helpful if I tried to handle by hen more and reinforce this as a positive experience (by giving her treats when being held for example) instead of keeping my distance as I have been doing? Or are older chickens less easy to train?

Im wondering out of interest more than anything. I love my hen in any case.

 

[azygous]

Just from your questions, I believe you are already aware that chickens are able to respond to what amounts to training and taming. You're aware breed plays a role and some chickens simply prefer as little contact as possible. Besides Lilith the Wyandotte, I have Summer the Cuckoo Marans, and a Cream Legbar hen named Snickers, all uninterested in being touched and handled.

Then there are the breeds that are lap animals deep down and true. Brahmas, EEs, Welsummers, and my Black Cochin hen all adore cuddling.

All except my two oldest, the Brahma and Lilith the SLW, were hand raised from day-olds in a manner where they were approached from the start from the side. They were all friendly as chicks because of the early handling from the side. It's not so much how much they were handled as babies, but how they were handled that made them tame and friendly, and they still all are.

Yes, you can later socialize an older chicken by giving them special attention to establish trust. Beware of using treats too much while doing this or they will see you as a food dispenser more than the friend you wish to become to them. You're already going about it in the right way with your older hen. The degree to which you enjoy success depends a lot on the breed temperament.

 

[MROO]

Just keep going the way you've started. Don't push the picking up part, but when you give her a treat, keep it pinched between your thumb and last three fingers while you gently touch her chest with your fore-finger (your pointer.) If she is truly treat-motivated (and most chickens are!) she'll not only learn to tolerate the stroking finger, but will hopefully come to associate it with goodies. It takes a long time, though ... weeks, not hours or days ... so be calm and patient with her.
And remember that it's not about turning her into a cuddle-bug. That's not likely to happen at this point. But it IS about alleviating her fear of human touch. The less afraid she is, the less stressful it will be later on when (not IF) she needs restraining for close inspection or medical treatment.
Good Luck!

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Older chickens ARE less easy to train, obviously childhood experiences with anything shape how all things react to the world around them.

You can certainly do thing to try to help her along. You're already on all the right tracks, you can try lifting her to let her eat special treats of have a positive experience, but ultimately she may never want to be touched and making her re-experience that stress is not going to help if you can't also transform it into a positive. Personally, my skittish chickens will NOT eat when held. Your mileage may vary, but it sounds like you're on the right track, but might not be able to make much more progress.

If it were my hen I would be very content with that behavior. Some of my hens won't even come within 5 feet of me.

 

[MissChick@dee]

I have 3 springtime chicks that are all 9 months old. I handled them continuously from day one. They all have different personalities. My SLW even as a baby was standoffish would protest when being held but would cry in protest if all the others were on my lap. Her behaviors fit the breed discription. I can pick her up easily she does not run. She will voice her opinion. I let her be I just enjoy her the way she is. She had no trauma...it’s just her personality.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I have one hen in my flock who was one of the first batch of chickens I got three years ago.... so I ended up hardly handling them....

Too be fair and truthful I fail to see the problem.