Hi My Polish are almost 9 weeks old. I bought them one week ago and they have already started to run up to me when I enter the run area hoping for a treat. There is one in particular that is friendly, and the others seem to follow her lead. There is one however that is very stand offish and waits until I leave before she comes to check out what I brought. Does picking then up and handling them make them more tame at this age? When I pick them up some are fine but this other one just freaks out and I don't want to scare her but I want her to trust me. What's the best way to do this? The buff Orps are 5 weeks old and I can pick them up and they calm down after a minute but none seem to eager to be held yet.
I'm not a pro on taming chickens, but so far with my chicken owning experience I've noticed that the more you handle the chicken and feed it out of your hand the more it will warm up to you. She may never come running when she sees you comming, but will come around more when you are there. FT my Silkie mix I got when she was 1 1/2yrs old. She had never been handled and was a sex slave. She would scream, peck, claw me and drool when I would pick her up. Now she comes running when she sees me walking up to the run. She knows there are goodies comming her way!
I think I discovered the secret to chicken love. They go nuts for meal worms and will jump up on my arm or lap for them.
Sometimes the bird that is at the bottom of the pecking order is the shyest and is afraid to come up to you because of the other birds...