My utter failure as a chicken mom

[sadies chicks]

Quote:
Totally agree!! Slow down and just be in there with them. I have had to work hard to get them to readjust to me once they were put outside. I am in their yard with them in the morning and after work, I bring them treats and just sit there with them and ask them about their day and tell them about mine. My very shy EE actually took a treat from my hand yesterday

which is amazing since she was the worst out of all of them. Don't give up!!! And as some of the other BYC folks have said (and I will agree with) some chickens just don't like to be pet. They are not dogs or cats, they are birds, totally different. They will come around! And yes, treats work miracles

 

[JenNY99]

I love all you chicken people!! Thank you so much! I now am thinking about some errors I have had with them and will try to correct. We have no run, as they free range, but like I said they have a couple of favorite places to hang. I have tried sitting next to them but the problem is when I do that, my 2 Boxers come running at me full speed as they think I am playing. While we have worked REALLY hard to make the Boxers chicken-friendly and it has worked (no easy task if you know Boxers, but they don't even chase the chickens) - I can't blame the chickens for not coming over when there are nutsy acting dogs hanging out.

I also have to do better with treats. Since they free range they get a lot a variety so I have been lazy in that regard. I am still upset about the "mean" roosters, but since we certainly have 3 and probably 4, I'll wait a bit and see who turns out to be the nicest and give away the others.

Then we'll get 6 more girls in the spring (maybe Ameraucanas - they sound great) and I'll get the joy of raising babies again.

Again, thanks so much for all the replies, it makes me feel a lot better! As a dog and cat person, these birds are throwing me off my games a little...er... a lot.

 

[Mommy 2 Wee Ones]

When we got our first 10 chicks 3 Rocks, 6 Buff Orp & 1 Wyandotte. They were two weeks old, and we held them all the time, they lived in a large Rubbermaid container. When I had to clean their container, the chicks went into the bathroom with my two daughters, who fussed over them, cleaned up any poop they did on the floor (my girls are 5 & 3).
Once we moved the girls out to their coop at 6 weeks old, we took chairs out to the run to sit & watch them. My Rocks were the first to jump on our lap, then the arm, and the shoulder, and the head. When the Buffs see this, they too come running over & hop up.
My 3 year old sits in the middle of the dirt, and if one chick gets too close, she scoops it up & hold it in her lap, petting & talking to it, till it calms down. My chick girls now expect carrot tops each time we come to visit (4 - 5 times a day), can't keep my human children away from the chicks.
We have 3 - month old EE, they are doing well with the hands on treatment.

Just lots of holding, lots of treats, and after some time, happy & hopping on your lap chickens.

 

[Moonkit]

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Don't lose heart, there is hope.. I'm a new chicken mom too with a hyper border collie. My babies are barely 2 months old and they all will eat out of my hand, jump on my lap/shoulders for better access to the treats. I notice that some are more tolerant towards actually being picked up than others. My silver laced Wyandottes want none of that.. one of my polish chicks and my columbian wyandotte will lay down in my hand, fluffed out, to be hand fed treats. The silkies will sit on my knee. As other posters have mentioned, you need to get down on their level and let them do the approaching. It helps to have a "high value" treat that they like. Mine love mealworms and this seed treat my father brought back from mexico. They'll bowl each other over to get at that seed treat. Once they associate you with all that is good in the world.. you won't be able to keep them off your lap.