why will one of my chics not eat from my hand and all the others do

[jolenep]

I have one chic (3 weeks old) that will absolutely not eat from my hand. I feed the other 5
meal worms on occasion and they eat from my hand and love the mealworms but this
particular chic will not touch them. She does eat the chic feed and seems healthy.
Why is she exhibiting this behavior?

 

[SueT]

Are they all the same breed? Give it time. Maybe it had a bad experience with someone grabbing it.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I haven't had a chick that would get close enough to eat out of my hand in many years.

 

[bobbi-j]

Could just be that bird's personality. Some are just friendlier than others. It seems you got one of the "others".

 

[centrarchid]

Look away or squint your eyes keeping back of hand firmly on the ground. Place just a few meal worms on your hand and repeat multiple times during each feeding session. We just tamed a hen-reared brood where hen at first would not cooperate. All where confined to a rabbit on a barrel so chicks where in close proximity to extended hand with meal worms on it. We also setup so we could sit comfortably thus moving about less. See thread below.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...oody-to-work-with-kids.1173295/#post-18488038

 

[azygous]

Yes, you have a chick that is reticent by temperament. Not every chicken enjoys closeness with humans. If a chick doesn't warm up to you with meal worms, it may remain standoffish all its life.

Conduct the exercise @centrarchid describes. Be patient, but also accept that this chick may never be enthusiastic about interacting with humans. Just as some humans are extroverts and some are introverts, so it goes with chickens.