New to chickens and think I have aliens

[cyanne]

Wow! Your leghorns sit in your lap? I have 6 of these, 3 white and 3 Light Brown and all of them are crazy and flighty. They will come take food out of my hand but they snatch and gulp as fast as they can (often biting me in the process) and they are always vigilant so they can leap away if I make any movements.

They basically act like I am going to murder them at the first opportunity. Sheesh.

 

[justmyluck]

Not mine, can't explain it. When I go in to get the eggs that the barred rocks??? lay, the brown leghorns come into the house and mill around my feet and talk. No one gets flighty except for the 4 Cochin hens that I've had all summer. Even my Cochin roo (my avatar) lets me pick him up and love him, but not the ladies.

 

[cyanne]

My leghorns will gather around me and talk up a storm, too, begging for treats, but let me move towards them or make any sudden move for that matter and they squawk and run as fast as they can.

They've been that way since I got them as day-old chicks. No matter how hard I tried to socialize them they want nothing to do with being held or touched.

Thankfully, I have lots of other chickens who are more than happy to sit in my lap and be cuddled. I keep the leghorns around because they are pretty to look at, they will eventually lay lots of nice white eggs, and their goofy antics make us laugh.

 

[justmyluck]

I hope that mine start laying soon. I have only gotten a few white eggs (2 or 3) since I got them. They were pretty small eggs. When I got these chickens they had never had any oyster shell calcium and the shells on the white eggs were very thin, in fact when I got the hens I kept finding crushed white sells. I thought someone might be eating the eggs, but after some calcium the shells started to feel thicker and no more broken eggs. I have not had a white egg in 3 days though. Waiting as I realize they are young. They were fed before I got them, but no real attention, no veggies or fruit as treats and on dirt, not grass. Now they have grass under their little feet, a few treats, food plus calcuim at will and of course clean water. Trying to do my best for them. But will count myself lucky that the leghorn hens like me. They seldom act skiddish, but they are sometimes, usually when the dog is around. I can reach over the fence and scratch heads, they like that, if the dog is not there with me.

 

[Chickndaddy]

I can reach over the fence

Are the birds wings clipped? Generally having a short fence with leghorns is not a good idea. Especially if you have a dog that might try to chase them if they got out. Just food for thought. My girls could fly over a six foot fence when they were clipped...lol When they have destroyed all the grass in their pen (which should take a few weeks so they will have settled in by then) you can let them free-range for the last few hours in the afternoon. They will love that. I would recommend keeping the dog in unless you are blessed with one that doesn't chase everything that moves. Generally they will no to go to bed at night, if you need them in a little earlier just toss a little hen scratch into the pen and that should get them there as fast as they can run. Which for leghorns is pretty darn quick.

 

[justmyluck]

The girls are not clipped yet, but no one seems to want to fly out. I have 2 bantams that were also given to me. I clipped them first thing and they were and are able to fly everywhere. Can't keep those dumb things in for anything. Guess I didn't clip them enough. My dog never chases them. Rusty (the dog) just likes to follow me around. He does chase off the occasional other dog that may come around, but has never chased the chickens, and the Bantams are our all of the time. Even covered the chicken yard and they still find a way to get out. I really want to thank you guys for all of your help and kindness. You have made me feel welcome and less silly. BTW, got my first white egg yesterday and it was a double yolker.

 

[ScoobyRoo]

Welcome to BYC. You will find tons of info here, that's for sure! And a lot of great people. I too have 5 flighty leg horns and wanted to tell you not to take it for granted that they won't fly out of their run. They will in time. I have a small door that divides my coop/pen(completely enclosed) and an open pen and the fence is 8ft tall. When I can't be home to let them free range they have access to the open pen and just yesterday a leg horn flew on to the fence and walked herself up and over while flapping her wings the whole time. I was gone this morning briefly and came home to a leg horn out in the yard again. Thank goodness my dog was sleeping at the time. May have to chicken wire the top but 8ft tall fence??!! Never clipped wings before and not sure I can. Just be careful and enjoy your new feathered friends and the eggs they give you.
K.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

Congrats on the egg!

When you clip their wings are you clipping one or both? You should clip just one. The idea is to put them off balance (I guess that's how you put it) so they can't fly as easily.

 

[justmyluck]

Hi, sorry for the late post. We have a big car show this weekend that is taking up a lot of time, but I'll check in daily. Thanks for the welcome Henry'schickens, even thought my dog never bothers the chickens that are out, (we have bantams that I can't seem to keep in), I don't trust any animal to act on their instincts. So being tired of chasing bantams and not wanting to chase leghorns too I think I am going to fence the to of the yard and close it off totally. DH strung wire criscrossed over the top of the yard to avoid hawks from getting in, but if the bantams can fly out, I am afraid the leghorns will get the idea too. We will just nip that one in the bud! I clipped the bantams and it's not hard, cried my eyes out 'til I figured out that I wasn't hurting them.

Farmer Kitty, I clip only one wing. DH holds for me and I do the clipping.

I am enjoying the feathered critters so much. I am assuming that the chickens that I inherited with the leghorns are Barred Rocks (I'm startin' to feel smarter). Those girls are all giving me an egg a day. No more white ones today, but I can be patient (I think.). I ended up being given 11 birds, the 6 leghorns and the 5 Barred Rocks. The previous owner had raised them from chicks this spring, then a couple of weeks ago decided they were tired of dealing with them. I was happy to take them, since they were about out of a home. I had already purchased a Blue Cochin Roo and 2 black and 2 partridge Cochin pullets this summer so what difference would 11 more chickens make???? The Cochins were the first chickens I have ever owned and I love them all. Thanks again to everyone for your help! I listen to every post and appreciate all of your expertise.
B