New chicks - and socializing!

[Rivulet]

I had to share - I got my 4-week-old pullets on Saturday, and they're in a brooder in my garage awaiting feathers and a coop. They have tentative names (Eulalie, Amaryllis and Zaneeta - from The Music Man!) but they haven't stuck yet. These are my first chickens.

Front to back, they're Rhode Island Red, Ameraucana and Australorp (or so sayeth the feed store girl - if you see otherwise let me know).

I am going out to see them frequently, once quickly in the morning before work, and a few times in the evening to bring them worms I find in the garden and clean out the brooder and try to hold them. The RIR is the most docile; she settles right down in my hand when I pick her up. The Ameraucana is slightly less happy to be around me; she gets tired of me and tries to wiggle away and get back to her sisters. But the Australorp thinks I'm the devil. She runs from my hand (except that she's the first to grab the worms when I bring them) and as soon as I pick her up her wings are flapping and she's yelling and she cannot wait to go hide in the furthest corner of the brooder. It's a little frustrating, since she seems to be just fine with me when I bring treats! I may pick up some mealworms or something and see what they think of those; we have tons of worms outside but it'd be nice not to have to harvest them in the rain.

I know that sometimes it just takes patience and other times they never quite take to people; I'm hoping it's the former so I have an easier time with her in the long run! I think I'm at a disadvantage since I got them so late, but hopefully it won't be too bad.

Any advice on how better to socialize them would be much appreciated!

 

[Paraclete]

My new girls are kind of the same way, have a few that are nice and calm, a few more that are a bit on edge whenever I come by, and another that just bolts when I open the door to the brooder I have them in.
The calm ones will run to the door when they hear the latch move and unlock, usually have to catch one as it falls out trying to get to me.
I've been giving them a piece of bread to draw them to me and get them used to me being the one with the food. The clam girls which are buff orpingtons x 2 and rhode island reds x 3 crawl on my arms, my hands, w/e to try and get at the bread. The others just like to hit and run, but they're slowly getting to trust me.

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

Just keep handling them. The more you handle them, the more they get used to it. One may never be completely comfortable being held but if you hold her till she settles down and them put her down, she will learn that you mean her no harm. My girls will be a year old next month and there are a couple who still arent thrilled about being handled but will quiet down after I pick them up and let me look at them.

 

[Rivulet]

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I feel like it might be traumatic for the skittish one to be held; I've heard it's good not to hold chickens too closely but I have to in order to keep her in my hand, she flaps around so much. She does calm down after a minute, though; is it best to just hold her more tightly until she calms?

 

[Chick Charm]

Congrats on the birds. Hold em close if you want to. And deffinately hold them often....several times a day until they get "used to it".

Ps Willamette Valley is some of the best fertile land in the USA. Go DUCKS!

 

[SunnyCalifornia]

Trick I learned......When you hold them, slide your hand under their belly, between their legs so that the legs dangle, and use your other hand to gently hold the wings down so they don't flap. They have a much harder time getting away when their legs are dangling, and give up trying much sooner. Also you don't have to squeeze them so tightly using this method. Just carry them around like that a while after they calm down, then you can even give them little scratches where their new prickly feathers are coming in. Pretty soon you'll have lap chickens...

Edited for clarity

 

[Rivulet]

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Oh, you mean go BEAVERS, right?

 

[Rivulet]

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I started doing this yesterday, actually! It works really well!

 

[looptloop]

I got my original girls when they were 4 or 5 weeks old. I did try to talk to them and hold them often. I always came with treats too, so they started to realize I was good! Now they still come running when they see me.

Me = treats.

 

[Rivulet]

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It sounds like this is my best bet too. If only the RIR knew how to get the worms from my hand - the other two are quick to snap them up but the RIR doesn't see them unless they're on the ground. Silly little thing.