My chickens run away from me and bite

[SFRunner]

Hi Everyone!

I am new to raising chickens, and I "adopted" two from a school hatching project when they were a few weeks old. As it turns out I got a rooster and a hen. I love them both and plan on keeping both, but they seem so skittish, even though they have been around kids since birth. Whenever I try to pick one of them up, they just run away. If I do manage to get too close, my rooster will bite me and it hurts! I do hand-feed them treats like raisins and cranberries almost everyday, and they will jump on my lap to get to the treats, but then they go off again.

I was told they are a white leghorn/rhode island red mix. Am I destined to always have biting chickens, or is there a chance they will eventually get cuddly? Right now they are about 3 months old.

Thanks!

 

[Jenny mac]

Hi Everyone!

I am new to raising chickens, and I "adopted" two from a school hatching project when they were a few weeks old. As it turns out I got a rooster and a hen. I love them both and plan on keeping both, but they seem so skittish, even though they have been around kids since birth. Whenever I try to pick one of them up, they just run away. If I do manage to get too close, my rooster will bite me and it hurts! I do hand-feed them treats like raisins and cranberries almost everyday, and they will jump on my lap to get to the treats, but then they go off again.

I was told they are a white leghorn/rhode island red mix. Am I destined to always have biting chickens, or is there a chance they will eventually get cuddly? Right now they are about 3 months old.

Thanks!

Hi, I have five girls, four are quite friendly, the fifth runs from me everytime, so I'm hoping for some advice too, they are 21 week old hybrids.

 

[pdirt]

I don't know about white leghorns, but rhode island reds are not the cuddly chickens you are hoping for. They tend to be skittish. Your chickens were also probably prodded and poked a LOT by the kids and so didn't get a good first introduction to people. If you want cuddly chickens, look for Swedish Flower Hens (rare breed).

Also, it's most likely than once your chickens mature, your rooster will end up oversexing your hen. The results of an oversexed hen can be any of the following: torn/missing feathers, bleeding, terrified hen, stop laying eggs, etc. A mature rooster needs 10 or more hens to "keep him happy" and not oversexing any one hen, though he can have favorites and do it anyway. You'd do best to get rid of the rooster if this turns out to be the case, but don't leave your hen lonely, get her at least one other hen as a friend.

Buff Orpingtons sure look cuddly, but I have not owned them yet, so I can't comment.

 

[lazy gardener]

I agree with PDirt. A rooster with a single hen is not a good thing. Either expand your flock with about 9 other females, or re-home the roo, and get a female friend or two for the pullet (I recommend that you get 2 new pullets, then rehome the rooster. Leghorns have a reputation for being flighty. RIR (IMO) have a reputation of being aggressive. Both breeds are great layers, but not the best choice for lap chickens. Also, you're going to need to train that roo if you intend to keep him. IMO, roos should not receive a lot of handling and cuddling. They need to learn to respect their humans. I'd not hand feed him, or encourage him to be up in my lap. I'd train him to stay arms length away from me at all times. Roosters that get a lot of "pet" cuddles are more apt to be human aggressive when they become sexually mature.

 

[pdirt]

And it can take up to 2 years for a rooster to become sexually mature. They might seem fine and relatively docile at 9 months of age, but at 18 months they might turn scary. Hormones. Wait until you see what a rooster does...I mean, they literally have sex about 50 times (or more!) a day. It literally only takes a few seconds each time, but still, that is a lot of mo-jo. Hormones make it possible.

We have taken the approach to not get aggressive toward our roosters, even when they do something we don't like. Being aggressive toward a rooster can make him think you are a predator or something he needs to fight against. So far, so good, no attacks on us.