My chickens hate me!

[jwyles]

Most chickens don't care for being picked up, but some can still be "lap chickens" if they're given the opportunity to hop up there when they want to. Personally I don't want my chickens on my lap (dirty feet) but most of mine have ended up on a lap at one point or another.

Treats will help win them over, along with exposure to you without you chasing them or trying handle them directly. In the morning I usually do some gardening, and the chickens follow me around as I garden. I pay them no real attention, other than throwing them a bit of greens or the occasional grub. In the afternoon I pull out a chair and just sit in the run a few minutes and toss out treats. They will learn pretty quickly to associate you with food, and at that point you should be able to resume handling them without them running away, because they're hoping to be fed.

One last thing, your chickens are mostly at that age where they're more paranoid and jumpy than when they were chicks. Once they reach point of lay they should calm down and be more accepting of spending time with you.

Thank you! Im feeling very reassured after the replies on this thread that I'm on the right track and slit of their behavior is an age thing. I believe mine are the equivalent of awkward jr high schoolers & pre teens. I'm definitely getting some treats that they can't say no to and let the training begin. I really don't want lap chickens but I absolutely know I need to be able to approach and handle them. Love your knowledge! Thank you!

 

[jwyles]

One thing I noticed with some of my girls, if I go up and want to pick her up, she'll squat down. Is this something that comes with maturity? It's what they do with roosters, isn't it? (forgive my ignorance, never had roosters, not allowed roosters)

I actually just read about this behavior somewhere the other day. I also can't have Roos so I feel your pain. I'm also very new to owning chickens so I'm def on the ignorant side (looking to change that. It's why I'm here ) but I do think it's common. I wish I could recall where I read that tho.

 

[hlhutchinson]

Mine come running to me when I go out but that's only because they think they will get treats (and sometimes they do, ok ok lots of times), they don't like to be picked up. At night when I check on them I pet them while on the roost (this would be a great time to pick them up you don't have to chase them around and corner them) I think they like this they always lower there heads and close there eyes

 

[barred2rock]

Try feeding them broccoli and/or kale by hand, it'll give you a little range and they can't resist. Mine come up to me, jump on my knee, shoulders and evern head. All but one will flee if I try to pet them, unless they think Im trying to mate them and they go into squat mode. lol

 

[Maria Romero]

Please someone tell me how to get my 9 pullets, ages 13-18 weeks (approx) to stop hating me. Maybe being terrified of me is more accurate-but tomato/tomato (wait that doesn't work with typingbut you get the point). I'm mind blown when I read about the ones of you that can just "pick them up"!!! I want that life so what do I gotta do to get it? Help me out y'all! TIA

i used to keep my chicks in a large cage and everyday i would go in with them. i always had mud on my feet, food, treats or pretty much anything eatable. and they came close to me to eat and once they were old enough to go out with the rest of my flock, they allowed me to touch and pet them.

 

[17 chickens]

Get yourself a bag of meal worms it is like candy to them or chop up a tomato and feed it to them only from your hand. I have several 5 gallon buckets I have in my coop yards that i sit on, i just tap my lap and I will have several hopping up to visit me. I have 3 brown leghorns and they tend to be flighty and at first they were but now they just hop right on up. the key is to feed them a treat only when they come to you! you'll get just keep trying!

 

[rosemarythyme]

One thing I noticed with some of my girls, if I go up and want to pick her up, she'll squat down. Is this something that comes with maturity? It's what they do with roosters, isn't it? (forgive my ignorance, never had roosters, not allowed roosters)

Pretty much, they squat for their "rooster" even if that happens to be a human. If nothing else it's convenient for catching them (my EE loves to squirt out of the run door every chance she gets, but she squats for me like crazy so she's very easy to nab).

 

[User395221]

Pretty much, they squat for their "rooster" even if that happens to be a human. If nothing else it's convenient for catching them (my EE loves to squirt out of the run door every chance she gets, but she squats for me like crazy so she's very easy to nab).

Thanks, well it must be innate. I don't think my girls have ever been with a rooster (they're adopted, so I can't be absolutely sure). Presumably, that behaviour comes with sexual maturity? OP might have an easier time if/when her girls start doing it?

 

[jwyles]

Get yourself a bag of meal worms it is like candy to them or chop up a tomato and feed it to them only from your hand. I have several 5 gallon buckets I have in my coop yards that i sit on, i just tap my lap and I will have several hopping up to visit me. I have 3 brown leghorns and they tend to be flighty and at first they were but now they just hop right on up. the key is to feed them a treat only when they come to you! you'll get just keep trying!

Thank you!

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

My girls like to be the ones to come to me - if they're out tootling around, and I come sit in the grass with a treat, they will come running from all corners of the yard to see what I have. They will hop up on my legs to get to the treats in my hand, will eat from my hands etc. But when we deliberately set out to catch them, like when we need to pen them before we leave the house, they haaaaate it! Also, it's amazing what a difference the onset of laying eggs has made in the disposition of our one hen who has already started laying. Literally overnight, she's settled down to a chicken who allows herself to be petted, approached, picked up ... whatever. My sister always has pictures of her little kids holding and playing with her chickens, and I was thinking that my chickens must be defective because they didn't let us catch them when they were younger ... but as they mature, they seem much less skittish.