Scared my baby chicks with a mirror

[lynniev45]

I bought a bird mirror, thinking the girls would enjoy a toy because they are curious little things. I thought they would enjoy it. But apparently not. I scared them all into a huddle in the corner. I tried taking the bell off, but they still didn't like it. Oh well. I wish I had a video camera to film it. It was quite funny. I have four 2 1/2 week old baby chicks. I have so much fun with them. But no mirror.

 

[JodyJo]

nice...NOTED! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Wildflower_VA]

Probably if you had introduced the mirror when they were a couple of days old, they would have loved it. Chicks, or chickens for that matter, are scared of change. I remember the first time I dug worms for my three-week old chicks and put them in the brooder in their sand box. All six Australorps piled up in the corner, with their necks stretched as high as they would go, all staring with fright at the five or so earth worms in their beloved sand box. I waited and waited, but they wouldn't come out of the corner until I removed the worms, then they didn't go close to the sand box until a couple of days later. You would have thought those earth worms were fire-breathing chicken hawks!

When they were much older, and had been outside in the coop for a while with a make-do roost, I decided to build a nice new one. They refused to go in the coop for two days and nights, choosing to sleep outside in the run.

They are now getting close to laying, so I put new nest boxes in the coop. Same thing. Sigh...

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

Quote:
I find this so interesting. I'm very new at chicken rearing, having eight 3-week old (Happy Birthday babies!) chicks of 4 different varieties. Ever since they were a few days old I've changed the set-up in their brooder (a converted dog-kennel about 24" X 36") every day when I change the paper toweling, adding and subtracting little perch set-ups made from an unused wine-racking system. They always seem so curious about any changes I make and examine them from every angle.

When they were about a week old I started moving them into a larger indoor run (about 4'X6") or a small outdoor run made of a puppy play-yard (about 2.5'X4") for a few hours a day. I get such a kick out of watching their antics. They run around and flap their wings and hop up on whatever new "toy" I've put in there for their enrichment...perhaps a big rock or a piece of a log cut for firewood or a cookie tray full of dirt/gravel. They are like kids at recess and I really think they are beginning to scout their surroundings as soon as I move them out of the brooder to see what surprise I have for them. Some head right for it and some stand away for awhile with their necks craned out to be sure it isn't chicken-eating, but they always seem curious rather than scared.

 

[lynniev45]

It's all new to me. I'll be mindful of introducing new stuff to them. They're fun to watch. But I don't want to scare them.