my 2 week old chicks are terrified of me :(( -help

[KJzCola]

You might not be able to do this but we have noticed chicks that are raised at eye level are tame compared to others. We first noticed this when we put some chicks in a tall rabbit hutch, and it was again tested with quail when they were put in a tall cage. I have a lot of theories why, but don't have any facts. It does work though and has given me some mild mannered chickens and quail. The top of the cage is about level with the top of my head.

I love the idea but do not have the ability to do this . Thank you though, May try for the future

 

[KJzCola]

How many times a day do you handle them? Chicks can get very stressed out if you hold them to much in one day on average you should hold them no more than 4-5 times a day. Try sitting by the brooder to let them get used to you. Hope this helps

Once, MAYBE twice a day. I do spend some time just sitting by them, I'll keep doing that thanks!

 

[KJzCola]

The way I do it is take one at a time for 10 mins a day and put them on a towel on my lap. I usually do it in the evening because they are tired and less needy of one another. I also will lay my hand at the bottom of their tub every day and approach them very slowly. Even if they run away, I do make sure they get a pet and know that I am not trying to hurt them. Some chicks also are more friendly then others. And then of course when you have a group they do copy each other.

This is pretty much exactly what I've been doing with the same mindset! Let me show you I'm just here to pet you gently, not harm you. But yes they cry out to each other like I'm slaughtering them, I've even tried taking two at a time to see if it helped their a parent need to be in a group, didn't help much :/. They seem to be an extreamly tight knit flock at this point. Where one runs off to, all others follow immediately and do the same exact thing. Not sure if that's average, or if they're just a bunch of pansies at this point.

 

[KJzCola]

Here's what I learned.  I'm just a newbie myself!  I got my first flock this year.

There are a couple that were completely skittish and apparently always will be.

The others... it helped to not pick them up every time I went to check on them.  I would try to check for pasty butt by sight instead of picking them up.  What I did was to just let my arm dangle there in the brooder as kind of a "perch" for them to jump up onto. 

After a couple of minutes they would get curious about my arm and hand, and maybe peck at it a little.  After a few days of doing this about 1-2 times a day (not picking them up unless absolutely necessary) the first one jumped up on my arm.  I was VERY careful not to pet her or scare her and just let her jump on and off my arm. 

Then, after a few days of the first one doing the arm jumping.... when she now jumped on my arm, I would slowly move my arm up to my eye level so she could see my face - talk to her a little and then gently move my arm back down and let her jump off.  I wouldn't try to handle her.

Over the next week, the others, seeing that she could do this safely - started following her lead and then wanting to jump on my arm too.  I would repeat the above with each bird as they became brave enough to jump onto my arm.

After a couple of weeks of this arm training - then I would start to bring my arm to my chest with the bird on it and then use my other hand to pet it.  Each one would resist at first, but I would force the issue for no longer than a minute with whoever would climb on my arm - and then put each one back gently by lowering my arm back down.  Then, they eventually learned to like the petting.


I noticed that when they were about 3-4 weeks old - each bird one by one started to "notice" me.  They would look at me when I walked into the room and kind of eye me up and trying to figure out what I was.  Their curiosity about me grew substantially.  The more reluctant ones started to jump on my arm at that age.

I still have a couple that won't go near me, but now that they are 6.5 weeks old and in their coop - most of them come running to me when I go to the coop and run.  I will park a chair in the run and sit there - and most of them will jump up to me and want to be petted.  The ones higher up on the pecking order always get first dibs and then when they are done the lower pecking order hens get their turn.  I'll have six birds on me at once (shoulders and lap).

I'm thinking I need to get some safety glasses because I'm worried about eye pecking

Oh wow, this sounds like a great approach, I might have ruined the chance with these already since I couldn't resist the flyffieness at first but I think I'll try these new tactics that have been advised to me here )

 

[KJzCola]

I recommend slowly putting your hand in the brooder and possibly letting them peck food out of your hand. Take the feeder out while you do this. This made my chicks love seeing my hand come in! They even fell asleep on my hand if I was patient enough. It takes a lot of patience and a lot of time. They'll be more relaxed when they're in the coop outside too.

Oh wonderful! You guys have all been so great and provided a ton of good ideas and advice. I've seen a strong similarity across a lot of responses so I'm pretty confident in this type of approach being successful in the long run. I just need to figure out some kind of playpin yard set up I guess so I can sit in with them and not have to interfear with them

Thank you all!!

 

[KJzCola]

This advice was terrific!!! Thank you to all. I was able to get them closer to eye level by raising the brooder up onto a table. And I've been patient with leaving my hand in there for them to explore. All but one will now let me pet them, both belly and back. And a few will let me pick them up slightly. You guys are wonderful!