We have backyard chickens and they’re very wary of us…the don’t like us to pet them or even get very close and it makes me saaaaad cause I want to hug them! will this get better with time or is there a trick to making them less scared of humans?
My first question is whether or not you have raised the chickens from chicks. I think chickens that you have raised from chicks are much, much more likely to let you hold them in adulthood, especially if you held and pet them quite a bit as chicks. If you got them when they were older, you may be out of luck.
You can try sitting in the grass and offering them tasty treats to gain their trust, but it will be a crap shoot as to whether it sticks or not. If they do seem to get close when you give them treats, try to work up to them eating out of your hand. Talk the entire time–just to ensure they get familiar with your voice.
Some people swear that their chickens get friendlier once they start laying. It mellows them out or something, but I wouldn’t hang your hat on that {if it is even the case that your chickens haven’t started laying yet}. Still, it might be a last-ditch hope if getting them to warm up to you isn’t working.
If you did get them as chicks and still they won’t allow you to hold them, you may just have gotten unlucky as far as their personalities go. Some chickens flat out don’t want to be touched/held. I have a couple myself. It’s just their temperament. Chickens aren’t really like cats and dogs, they don’t always bond with humans in the pet-like way that we want them to. And, as far as I am concerned, they have a right to be suspicious, word on the block is that humans eat chickens from time to time. 🙂
How about YOU, any tips for Justine on getting her chickens to warm up to her a bit more?
~Mavis
TC says
you pretty much said it, I have chickens I have raised from day old who are quite friendly, then some from a broody hen who are very skittish and won’t let me near them, then my chatty cathy one who came to me at 16 weeks old and she is super friendly and talks up a storm while the others who came at the same time run away.
Now sitting down with some scratch in hand and waiting for them to eat out of your hand helps but even then as you said they may still not let you hold them.
Good luck.
Darlene says
We raise ours from chicks and they are usually friendly, except for our leghorns, we’ve had many batches of them and they are always flighty and don’t enjoy human interaction. May be the breed as well.
Cecily says
You’re right about chickens having different personalities and different breeds are more personable than others. I find that australorps, orpingtons and silkies are typically friendlier than Rhode Island reds, leg horns and ameraucanas (although there are exceptions).
Although not everyone can do it, I let my best broody hen hatch a clutch of eggs each year (I have a rooster) and I have found that by talking to the chicks 2-3 days before they hatch and handling them several times a day during the week after hatching they become used to people and can be held as adults.
Bonnie says
I have one Rhode Island Hen ( I have 7 ) named Baby that will let me pick her up and follows me around. The other ladies ( bless their little hearts ) are happier to just follow me for treats. Enjoy spoiling them and pull up a chair. You may find they will jump up sometimes to just say ” hello.’