New here, question about 3mo old chicken behavior :)

[Rivenwood]

Hello all!

Thanks for allowing me to join. I have owned chickens for a number of years, but I am a novice with youngsters and pullets (long story short, neighbors moved and abandoned 2 hens with me 6 years ago, we've had a few 'senior' birds since). Today I got my first kiddos, 2 pullets and 1 cockerel. They are Salmon Faverolles and 3 months old (and in my avatar).

When I picked them up from their previous owner this afternoon, they were nervous about going someplace new but clearly friendly little ones, ate eagerly out of my hand and accepted pets. Tonight when I went to check on them in my barn, I knelt down in the hay with them and two of the three crawled underneath me. I have never experienced any other chicken doing this before. I presume it means they were looking to me for protection, based on they would do this when nervous or scared with their mother hen. But I was just concerned it might mean something else, and a google search was mostly fruitless.

So can anybody shed some light on this sort of behavior (have you experienced it before?), or is my assumption correct?

Many thanks!

 

[Ravynscroft]

Congrats, 'Momma Hen', you have 2 girls and a boy! lol

Yes, that is exactly what they are doing, they see you as momma hen so instincts kick in and they treat you like momma hen.
They have moved somewhere new, big and scary (to them) and are seeking 'protection'.

 

[Rivenwood]

Congrats, 'Momma Hen', you have 2 girls and a boy!

lol

Yes, that is exactly what they are doing, they see you as momma hen so instincts kick in and they treat you like momma hen.
They have moved somewhere new, big and scary (to them) and are seeking 'protection'.

Thanks so much for the insight! I thought that was most likely but I am very much a novice with little ones (these are the first birds I have owned that have been younger than a year), and I figured I should defer to others here who know better

I am actually really excited to see how these guys progress and maybe helping them raise up some chicks of their own. It would be nice to be able to track generations of my own home-bred birds so I know everything there is to know about them!

 

[Ravynscroft]

It is extremely rewarding to raise them and then to help them raise their own. And it seems that when you raise your own they turn out much friendlier and more like companion animals.
This is my Ameraucana hen I raised from 2 weeks old, she just hatched her first chicks and is a great broody momma! She lets me help her, but only with things she knows she can't do (like pick them up to put them back in the coop).

 

[Rivenwood]

How adorable!! I like that she leans on you for help sometimes, but is otherwise a good independent mommy. They all look so healthy and happy

I am going to have a hard time waiting until my Favs are ready for chicks. They won't be 6 months old until August and I am not sure if 'Autumn chicks' are something they'd do, which means I'll be waiting till next spring. But either way, I need to get to work on a proper coop!

 

[Ravynscroft]

Thank you! I try my best and she has impressed me so much. She won't peck me, but she doesn't allow the roo anywhere close, lol.
Yep, gotta have a good coop and make it bigger than what you think you'll need, before you know it you'll have more than you intended, lol.

 

[Rivenwood]

Hehe, yes, I have drawn a little layout on paper tonight for a coop with two sections, as we like the sounds of Lavender Orpingtons and figured maybe we'd keep the different breeds separate. I believe my husband's thinking to himself "Well, a few more chickens is better than another horse"