Thanks cabinchicky! My black Cochin Midnight is my biggest snuggler. All my EE are nutty. Tiny is a biter. I'd love to know how to break that. They spent the first 6wks being picked on by a RIR cockerel though so I figured it had a lot to do with their skittishness (I've read they can be skittish, but this, to me, goes beyond the normal level of fear).They are SO much more calm and quiet now that the RIR is gone (they were doing this distress screech all the time and it was horrible, driving me crazy) but they are still skittish. I can talk to Quail, Genesis, and Bubbles and get them to calm down, but Tiny doesn't even give me a chance, she just reactively reaches out and bites me (I have tried everything I can think of from slowly trying to scoop her up, grabbing her a little "swiftly" and bringing her close to me, making sure to talk to her the whole time in a quiet and soft voice, etc, nothing harsh). It wasn't as bad when she was younger, but as her beak has gotten harder it hurts more. :/
Most of my first batch were more snuggly when they were inside in the brooder, except for the GSL (Brownie and Cupcake), but now that they're outside they seem to be on higher alert and a little more skittish. I spend as much time as I can throughout the day with them, and about an hour just chilling with them in the evening before they go to bed, but I guess things just change when they go out to the coop. Kind of like a kiddo growing up (I have a 12yo, and it's the only thing I can think of to compare it to)
I also have to figure out how to merge the big chicks with the little chicks into the coop. I'm struggling with it. I don't want ANY of my chicks majorly hurt or worse. Trying to navigate through how to properly do that too. :/
I've had good luck with the "look but don't touch" way of integrating new birds with the existing flock. There's a good write up in the Learning Center explaining the process (the integration info comes after the isolation part of the article):
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock
Maybe that will help with merging your girls all together. Good luck!
