Losing hope with chicks that hate me 😣

[BigMoma3]

I don't know whether you can ever expect them to love being handled, but with the help of some positive reinforcement, getting them to eat out of your hand and follow you around shouldn't be too hard.

I got my chicks from TSC and raised mine initially for the sole purpose of taming my guinea keets. For the first 8 weeks I had 3 guineas and 5 chicks in a brooder at night, and an outside pen during the day. One method I used for positive reinforcement was to pick them up every single morning and evening and drop them into a tote with their favorite treats (white millet and dried black soldier worms), while they ate, I would transport them out into the pen. They learned to associate being picked up with getting treats, and eventually even the very flighty and wild keets didn't panic when being picked up.

GENIUS!

 

[BigMoma3]

I have five beautiful chooks that I love dearly The problem is that when I got some 3 week old Australorp x Rhode Island Reds. My enormous White Sussex continuously bullied them so I continually yelled at her. Now she is terrified of me and I feel awful that she runs away in fear any time I go near her and my beautiful Hamburg has always been nervous but now she is an absolute ball of panic if I even look at her!
The new chookies are very happy but will not let me touch them. It makes me so sad when I see people who can pick up their chooks...

I'm so very sorry But I have hope you can win them all over, and win the other ones back. Even if it takes a year. The advice on this thread has been amazing.

 

[BigMoma3]

We’ve just taken to calling them the feral heathen class of 2021.

Sorry to hear you're going through it too but absolutely love the title you gave them!

 

[BigMoma3]

For me, the best way to tame chicks is to get down on their level from day one, which means actually sitting in the brooder (extra incentive to keep the brooder clean!) But since your chicks are already five weeks, still skittish, and possibly not likely to come around, you might need to consider adding this temporary tactic: Hunger.
I'm not talking about starving the chicks, of course--Heaven forbid! Just removing their food long enough that they have healthy tummy rumbling and their desire for breakfast is stronger than their fear of being near you. Remove their feed one evening (or just several hours for younger chicks) and then sit down in the morning and pour a pile of it between your outstretched legs, using a special call, like a high-pitched"Chick-chick-chick-chick-chick." Hunger trumps fear and they will have to hop on to your legs and then remain close to you to eat.A few days later, you can offer the food by hand. Every time you feed them, make the same call so soon they come running. Soon you can dispense with withholding their breakfast and just do the same with treats.
Chickens don't like to be petted while they are eating, so gradually allow the back of your hand to graze down the side of whoever is closest now and then. Then sometime sit with them with just a little food, maybe a snack. When some linger and hop on your legs, trying a slow, gentle cupping of their body and feather-light stroking. Then at night when they are zoned out, pet each one on the roost.
This all takes time, but it looks like you have been willing to take a lot of time and would really like for them to give you the pleasure of their friendliness. And you're right--the enjoyment is so much more when you have a friendly relationship with your flock. Mine come running, crawl on me, and every morning when I open the coop lid, fly from their roost to the waist-high wall where I'm standing to be petted before starting the day.

So cute ❤

 

[Ribh]

I'm with @HappyClucker7 . I have Campines, notoriously flighty screaming banshees who would rather fly into the wire fencing than have anything to do with me. Once they started laying they calmed right down & by persisting with the soft gentle approach all are handleable these days. They will never be lap chickens but they follow me round the yard, come for treats & will eat from my hand. It took them about 6 months to really calm down. I am dealing with Vorwerks just now who were super scared of me but they are mellowing faster.

One trick you may like to try is bring a couple inside in a crate that is in a high traffic area where they will constantly see you & hear you. Talk to them, handle them, give them treats, spend a lot of time with them. In a few days, when you return them to the flock they should be calmer around you, come for treats etc & the rest of the flock will probably follow their example. Sick chicks taught me this. All the best.

 

[Outta Here]

I have been doing this a lot more. They are not hididng out in the corner anymore but certainly aren't coming up to me. We are getting there though

Sounds like good progress! Here are some encouraging pictures of my 9-14 week old chicks allowing me to pet each one their roosts and even hopping closer to me to the half-wall for more pets. Keep it up--it's so worth it to have friendly chickens!

Petting each one on the roost.

They jump to the half wall to get more pets...

Even supposedly shy leghorns!

 

[Lady Clucks-a-Lot]

Nice!

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

i agree my roo and his girl friend are trefide of people im working on get ing them to like me with the walk method sorry, its not a real method but i created it so ya my roo doesnt run as fast away from me.. but still hates me even glanceing at him... so then to catch him i have to act like im just walking by going on with my day then catch him. i know it sonds brutal but the roo would never come to me!

Ha...I've tried that with my paint silkie and she slips my grip every time and I'm left holding a leg! She hates my guts and I can't blame her!
None of mine are very friendly either. Very frustrating and I have sit countless hours underneath the deck just being one in the flock...nothing else. And still here we are.

 

[JustBabyMargo]

I have some pretty flighty breeds as well! But I find that if you pick them up a lot as chicks and just sit with them in your hands for some time while they are still babies they will grow to love you! It’s all just about the time spent with them! I had this polish chick, Margo, who I would hold like at least four hours a day and just let her sleep with me! She then grew up and matured and wanted to be held and wouldn’t even flinch if I moved towards her in any way! She even started responding to her name being called! Unfortunately she died, but she was still the sweetest chicken I’ll ever have! And then I have this other polish girl named Birdie who I used to hold a lot for her first about a month of life. I stopped holding her after that because we thought she was a rooster that would need gotten rid of! And now that she’s maturing she’s doing the same things my Margo would do! So I would say don’t lose hope! Once they mature they may be the sweetest things ever!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

The more you snatch and grab at your chickens, the less they are going to like you and the more they will fear you. But I think we already told you this.