Suddenly a pet?

[ameliadanielle]

We have never coddled our chickens. I don't pet them. We feed them, water them, make sure they're healthy. The most I touch them is when I move them off my back steps to their roost. This morning one of my red stars, not even the one that hangs around my feet 24/7, flew into my arms and then settled down on my shoulder. I petted her, sat her down. She did it three more times. Tonight my husband got me to go stand outside to see if she would do it again so he could get video. She did.

Is this normal? For a chicken to just randomly decide they want attention? It's time for them to start laying any day, so I was scared something was wrong with her and I tried feeling around to see if I could feel an egg or something, but nothing. She seems perfectly healthy. Our other chickens are just normal, not pet chickens that could really care less about my presence unless I'm holding food.

 

[ameliadanielle]

I tried to stay a safe distance from her this morning. So now she's just sneaking up behind me and flying up on my shoulder. She sat there the whole time I was walking around in the yard talking in my ear. I feel like a pirate with a chicken instead of a parrot. Lol.

 

[aart]

They all have different personalities and some are like you describe, she feels safe with you.
She may keep doing that or stop.... it may be because she's at onset of lay.
They can get pretty goofy acting at that time.

I've had a few who wanted to perch on me....I won't stand for it tho, keep knocking them off until they don't do it anymore.

If you do continue to allow her to perch on your shoulder, watch your eyes,
a curious, lightning fast, beak strike at shiny eyes can maim.

 

[azygous]

The first time I ever had a hen fly up and perch on my shoulder was when I had my first rooster and he was making a real pest of himself bothering the hens. She was an EE and one of my very first adopted older hens, and I think she was taking advantage of my being in her immediate vicinity to escape the annoying roo.

She later became a "pet", and she loved to jump in my lap for snuggles whenever she saw me sitting down. Since that hen, all of the EEs I've had have been exactly that way, tame and affectionate.

Not all chickens are inclined to this, though. Out of twenty one chickens, I have just seven, maybe nine, that are very people oriented.

 

[mrscluckingham]

My Silkie loves to perch on my shoulder. Our other chickens won't accept her, and she has almost become a house chicken... almost! I do have material, the pattern, and the nerve to see diapers. I'm trying to integrate her one more time by keeping her in the run area in a dog kennel. This time I'm going to let her be in there for two weeks instead of one before I supervise there interaction. They really go after her bad. Though, I'm secretly hoping they reject her. I'd just love to have a fluffy house chicken on my shoulder all day. She is my sweet baby. Lets me blow dry her after a bath too.

 

[ameliadanielle]

Maybe she's just getting ready to start laying. They were born in February and out of the breeds we have the red stars are supposed to start laying the earliest. So hopefully that's what's going on and we can stop buying eggs!

 

[ameliadanielle]

I wear glasses so hopefully that will shield my eyes from her. I was attacked by a chicken when I was a kid, so every time she makes a sudden move I jerk away from her by reflex. Lol.

 

[ameliadanielle]

So yesterday she went missing. I looked EVERYWHERE until there was only one place left to look. The Hobbit Hole. Affectionately called. As our dog dug a hole into the yard that goes back about 4 feet. She has been hanging out in there. When she comes out if we touch her back she squats and spreads her wings. So tonight we are excavating the hole to see if she's been laying eggs in there. Then we're going to fill it in. Maybe she will move to the nest boxes. She was MIA this morning too, back in the hole. We're going to rearrange and hopefully make the actual shelter we have for them that they don't use and the nest boxes more appealing. Which means we're going to move everything right by the back steps where the chickens have chosen to take up residence.

 

[Chickenteacher]

I'd bet a dollar she's laying eggs there and getting ready to hatch them!

 

[mrscluckingham]

I'd bet a dollar she's laying eggs there and getting ready to hatch them!  

How cool would that be?!! Always neat to see nature in action. *fingers crossed*