- Jul 21, 2013
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When you all go the broody route, how do the chicks end up as far as socializing with people go? We used a broody for the first time last fall and those resulting chicks were (and the grown chickens still are) petrified of us! One of the pullets won't even walk out through the run door WITH the rest of the flock if it means walking near us! The broody isn't afraid of us. I guess they weren't handled at all as chicks, though, and that's the difference.
My Reply:
My experience with broody raised chickens is that when you spend time with mom and her babies, the babies get to where they aren't alarmed by your presence and they are just as friendly as bator chicks. I let them eat out of my hand and walk on my hand and lap and they get to where they aren't unfriendly and afraid. I don't have many of my SFHs that are friendly, but I did have one that liked you to brush your hand on the top of her comb and she would sit on the back of my Lazy Boy recliner while you sat in it. Her name was Peaches and Cream. I lost her to a hawk attack. It seems to me that the friendlies have a higher predation rate than the non friendly majority and this bums me out.
I also always tried not to get mom riled at me to where she would hurl threats at me for messing with her babies. I always thought that the babies would learn that I'm the boogie man from mom if that happened too much. I don't know if there is any truth to this but it makes sense to me.
Overtly friendly Swedish Flower Hens (SFHs) are always in the minority, no mater if they are bator or broody chicks. I do think that the ratio of friendlies is higher with bator chicks.