My chicks are crazy scared of me.

[chjuem]

So, I’ve been raising babies for years, and my friendliest chicks were when my brooder was up high off the ground, like almost eye level. It was built onto a beam in the back of the barn, within the main coop. If you can get them up off the ground they don’t see you like a bird of prey. Even a dog cage, where you come at them from the side not from above, makes them a little less scared of you

 

[urbanMike]

We had one of our chickens in our flock die. So we decided to get 3 new baby buff Orpingtons to go with our remaining 5. But these ones came from a different breeder and the same thing as you described. They were also a bit older. And they totally freak out all the time. I find it odd for the breed, but I'm wondering if it was because we bought some that got left behind in the store and weren't immediately socialized.

That being said, in our old flock, we had one bird that was skittish. She'd let you hold her, but you had to catch her. The others are not that hard to pick up. But when she started laying eggs, then she had a complete shift and was no longer skittsh. She'd just let you pick her up.

So... maybe it takes time. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[PippinTheChicken]

Teaching them to roost on your limbs using chick-crumb-water helps

 

[gtaus]

I got 10 leghorns won’t let you get within 20 feet of them not a good breed if you wnat a pet chicken

Leghorns are especially noted for being skittish. Some people call them only partially domesticated, at best. I have a Californian chicken, which is a hybrid of half Leghorn and half California Grey. The Californian chickens are supposed to have the superior qualities of the Leghorn's egg production with the larger size and better temperament of the California Grey. She gives me jumbo white eggs that are almost as large as a goose egg. But I would still consider my Californian chicken as the most skittish hen in my backyard flock.

Stock picture of a Californian. Not my specific hen, but looks just like the stock photo with the black specs. Great white egg layers. Maybe not so good for pets.

Stock picture of ISA Browns, my only chicken that allows me to pet her every morning. Very people friendly. Best brown egg layer I have. I think the ISA Brown is a trade name, but the same breed is sold by sex linked names like Red Comet, Red Star, etc... These birds are great if egg production is your main goal.

 

[Mr Clean Kansas]

Hi, I know chickens are prey animals and are, well, chicken.

This is my 3rd time brooding chicks and I don't recall the other two groups behaving like this group.

This group acts like I am a big scary hawk intent on killing them. They completely freak out each day when I check the food and water. They're about 5 1/2 weeks old. I'd stopped picking them up as they freak out so much, I figured that if I just keep calmly talking to them and slowing take care of their food and water that they they'll get used to me. But that hasn't happened. One day last week I did move them, one by one, from the brooder in the garage out to a big dog cage in the back yard as it was a nice day.

When I'd pick one up - after catching it - it'd scream, but when it was alone as I was transporting it through the house, cuddled to my chest, it stopped screaming.

Is that what I should be doing? Taking them out individually and spending time with them without the others?

What are some good chick snacks to give them/bribe them with? I'd just been doing the medicated chick feed.

What can I do to make these crazy chicks like me?

I think they freak out when your hand is coming in from above which is their instinctive behaviour for escaping predators from the sky. Once your hand is at their level it's easier to calm them down.

 

[rosemarythyme]

We had one of our chickens in our flock die. So we decided to get 3 new baby buff Orpingtons to go with our remaining 5. But these ones came from a different breeder and the same thing as you described. They were also a bit older. And they totally freak out all the time. I find it odd for the breed, but I'm wondering if it was because we bought some that got left behind in the store and weren't immediately socialized.

That being said, in our old flock, we had one bird that was skittish. She'd let you hold her, but you had to catch her. The others are not that hard to pick up. But when she started laying eggs, then she had a complete shift and was no longer skittsh. She'd just let you pick her up.

So... maybe it takes time. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

This is a hormonal thing, they tend to calm down quite a lot once they begin laying, vs the more frantic, run-from-everything teenage phase.

I'd say a chicken's friendliness is a combination of inherent breed qualities + their individual personality. Of my initial group of chickens, one was added 7 weeks after the original chicks (all same hatch dates, just bought later on) and was a lot more terrified of people at the start. But now that she's an adult she's plenty friendly enough - no one would be able to pick her out as the one that didn't have human contact at the start of her life.

 

[JKay98]

My chickens have always been "tame" when compared to others, but I do this by NOT picking them up, and NOT carrying them around. I feed them so they do come to me to see what I have to offer, and some will eat from my hand. There are certain ones who will jump on my lap if I sit outside with them (I do not try to pet them). I spend a lot of time outside reading or on my phone and they learn I will not be bothering them, so they learn to trust me as one of their flock. Mother hens do not make petting motions on their babies, the flock does not do that to each other. So therefore it is a foreign feeling, not a comforting behavior for them.

 

[ellen60]

Hi, I know chickens are prey animals and are, well, chicken.

This is my 3rd time brooding chicks and I don't recall the other two groups behaving like this group.

This group acts like I am a big scary hawk intent on killing them. They completely freak out each day when I check the food and water. They're about 5 1/2 weeks old. I'd stopped picking them up as they freak out so much, I figured that if I just keep calmly talking to them and slowing take care of their food and water that they they'll get used to me. But that hasn't happened. One day last week I did move them, one by one, from the brooder in the garage out to a big dog cage in the back yard as it was a nice day.

When I'd pick one up - after catching it - it'd scream, but when it was alone as I was transporting it through the house, cuddled to my chest, it stopped screaming.

Is that what I should be doing? Taking them out individually and spending time with them without the others?

What are some good chick snacks to give them/bribe them with? I'd just been doing the medicated chick feed.

What can I do to make these crazy chicks like me?

I have brought 1 or 2 chicks in and snuggled them on my lap in a towel while I watch TV. They just fall asleep.
It takes a very long time to gain their trust.
I will say though, once they are out in the coop/yard together, I try not to pick them up and carry them out of sight of the others. When you bring it back and set it down the other hens will peck at it viciously.

 

[PippinTheChicken]

One of my chicks was cuddly from hatchday

 

[chickencoop57]

Mine are always skiddish, even the 13 that just hatched out in the incubator but like gtaus said, that's fine with me, theyre not my pets. I'll just scoop up about 4 at a time and move them over to another container, after a couple of days and then to another pen, inside the coop area once theyre about 3-4 weeks old.