why does my chicken close her eyes while i hug her

[amirhossein]

hello i have a question i have two chickens one of them is just scared all the time and is the youngest and the other one is older
so when i grab the older one (which she is the only one that i can grab and hug) after a while when i am scrubbing her neck and head she closes her eyes
is it a sign that she is scared ? is it good ? what should i do when i hug my chicken so that she loves me ?
also when i try to grab her she kinda runs away but sometimes she lets me get her thou it still feels like she is scared
i also grab her after i feed her from my hand as that is the time she is closest to me
sorry for grammar and spelling errors

 

[BoundlessLove]

Welcome to BYC!
The younger one should calm down with age.
I wouldn’t hug chickens. This won’t make them love you.
It is fine to let them sit on your lap and pet them. (Not on your shoulders)

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Chickens are prey animals so being picked up is instinctively terrifying to them. The only reason a chicken would be picked up in the wild is by an aerial predator. I would recommend just sitting with them (on the ground or in a chair) and letting them come to you. If you are hand-feeding them they will likely hop up into your lap looking for more treats then you can pet them and they will gradually do this more often. I don’t train my chickens to be friendly but I had a pair that were very friendly just from my hand-feeding and sitting where they could reach me. They got friendlier and friendlier.

 

[amirhossein]

thank you very much

 

[amirhossein]

Chickens are prey animals so being picked up is instinctively terrifying to them. The only reason a chicken would be picked up in the wild is by an aerial predator. I would recommend just sitting with them (on the ground or in a chair) and letting them come to you. If you are hand-feeding them they will likely hop up into your lap looking for more treats then you can pet them and they will gradually do this more often. I don’t train my chickens to be friendly but I had a pair that were very friendly just from my hand-feeding and sitting where they could reach me. They got friendlier and friendlier.

thank you