3.6m Omlet Chicken Run for sale, Brand New in Boxes, Milton Keynes (MK19)

[heth1986]

How long did it take everyones new girls to settle in and start to appreciate your existance?! Admittedly I've only had them about a month but my two ladies, Ram Jam (white silkie) and Black Betty (black silkie) are polar opposites... literally.

 

Ram Jam hears the kitchen door open at the other end of the garden, immediately gets excited at the prospect of food or fuss and can barely contain herself, she almost seems to shake with excitement! Black betty, on the other hand, will ignore my voice, snoop to the other side of the run and, should I dare go anywhere near her whilst she's in her house, will have good old swipe at me! I've spent hours on end sat up there throwing little bits of food around for them, talking to them etc and again, whilst Ram Jam will come and settle near to me, even on my knee, Black Betty wont have any of it.

 

Now. Betty has gone broody so could this be the problem? Do chickens get PMT?! I hope she warms up to me

 

And just a quick question on broodiness... do hen lay whilst they're broody or is Betty sitting on Ram Jam's eggs? I only ask because I'm getting 1 a day, which is good going for a silkie and I was only expecting that from the 2 of them!

 

Thankyou for everyones help with my previous posts and thanks in advance for you helpful comments to this one!

[majuka]

I'm sure that she doesn't hate you, like us, hens have very different personalities. My girls are ex batts so all had very limited human experience, some have taken to us quite quickly, others have taken a lot longer. Of the two girls we have left from our December 2010 collection, one has been quite happy to approach me for a few months now whereas the other is still cautious (although better than she was). Let her take things at her own pace, offer her treats and see if she will take them and always be quiet and calm around them so not to startle her.

[Redwing]

Mine have never learnt to appreciate my existance so I wouldnt take it personally

 

They are little characters and will be different just as we are, some are friendly and others arent

 

A little corn or some mealworms fed from the hand at teatime tends to unbend even the most haughty ones though

 

Hens dont lay when they are broody but they will pinch the others eggs and sit on them

[loumabel]

Im sure she doesnt hate you My wyandotte Eglantyne is the sweetest little chicken you could meet, she makes little cooing noises and sits on my foot when I give out the afternoon corn, BUT when she is broody she turns into a complete demon If I go near her she shrieks and flaps like a mad woman and if I try and pick her up out of the nesting box I have to wear gloves as she pecks me furiously then pecks my ankles when I put her down!! I am sure Black Betty will be a sweet little girl when she gets over her broodiness, she is just trying to protect what she thinks are her babies. Try not to take it personally, she will get over it soon and will be running to the back door for treats too

[coco]

I'm sure she doesn't hate you, mine only have any interest in me as long as they think I have food for them. As for being broody it completely changes their charecters. Fey is broody [again] and she is usually the most unsociable hen around but at the moment she sits on my arm in the pancake position and refuses to get off, anything to avoid going outside.

[Sammiboo]

it toko a while for my chickens to be interested in me. one of the first two (lohman brown) was a complete nutcase, she was a pyscho then the two amberlinks, they didnt get friendly until they started laying. ive had mine now for a few months, they are all lovely happy content girls. i wouldnt worry

[Chortle Chook]

It probably is just individual personality but in reading this I have wondered if it could be something to do with the breed strain My white silkie is really friendly (all be it a tad bossy when she wants to be), my gold silkie is just adorable, but a black one that I had recently never became friendly however hard I tried. I got her in the winter and someone on here suggested (possibly rightly) that it was because she came in the cold and so I possibly, unwittingly, gave her less attention than those that had arrived in the summer. On the other hand could it be the breed strain??

 

I admit that in the end, when someone offered me a pair of little frizzles, I rehomed her with another of my chooks (so she had a friend to go with) to someone nearby who wanted a pair of silkie girls to sit on duck and quail eggs. I've been to see them and they are just fine, but did not seem to recognise me at all.

[heth1986]

Oh no! No you've mentioned that, my friend who also keeps silkies has a VERY grumpy black girl... you could well be on to something but I hope not! She's managed to draw blood today, bless her, caught me just in the right place! Oh well, as long as Ram Jam stays friendly at least I still have one to cuddle...

[squiffs]

How long did it take everyones new girls to settle in and start to appreciate your existance?! Admittedly I've only had them about a month but my two ladies, Ram Jam (white silkie) and Black Betty (black silkie) are polar opposites... literally.

 

Ram Jam hears the kitchen door open at the other end of the garden, immediately gets excited at the prospect of food or fuss and can barely contain herself, she almost seems to shake with excitement! Black betty, on the other hand, will ignore my voice, snoop to the other side of the run and, should I dare go anywhere near her whilst she's in her house, will have good old swipe at me! I've spent hours on end sat up there throwing little bits of food around for them, talking to them etc and again, whilst Ram Jam will come and settle near to me, even on my knee, Black Betty wont have any of it.

 

Now. Betty has gone broody so could this be the problem? Do chickens get PMT?! I hope she warms up to me

 

And just a quick question on broodiness... do hen lay whilst they're broody or is Betty sitting on Ram Jam's eggs? I only ask because I'm getting 1 a day, which is good going for a silkie and I was only expecting that from the 2 of them!

 

Thankyou for everyones help with my previous posts and thanks in advance for you helpful comments to this one!

I have no idea, I thought my omlet girls were 'feral chickens' ... then I got my gold silkies! They make a racket like I'm trying to strangle them if I even walk past them at the moment - I think they're just prone to being flighty especially when young - but I'm hoping I'll be rewarded with tameness and affection once they mature and get used to me

[Space Chick]

I have had my Gold Silkies since they were 6 weeks old, they are now 25 weeks old and still scream like I going to murder them every time I pick them up

 

And don't get me started on my Appenzeller, I have had her for 2 years and she still thinks I'm the devil incarnate every time I pick her up to do her health checks (although she will jump on my lap for grapes )

[fluffy chick]

My 2 white silkies have always been friendly and not at all flighty. I would love a black one I'm sure if you offer treats from your hand as others suggested she will come round. Chickens are ruled by their stomachs!

[squiffs]

And don't get me started on my Appenzeller, I have had her for 2 years and she still thinks I'm the devil incarnate every time I pick her up to do her health checks (although she will jump on my lap for grapes )

yes, my will scramble over me to get to grapes, corn, mealworm, orange segments, or melon seeds, will crouch when I go to pick her up, but as soon as I do she all but gives me a black eye with her flapping!

[mollyripkim]

I've only had my black silkie for a week, she is a year old and a little sweetie, very tame and happily eats from my hand, all my others are the same and will climb all over me if I am sat down for treats. Except Doris, a partridge silkie, she prefers to do her own thing and I can't just pick her up like the others.

[Valkyrie]

I think you are fine. I have a very moody buff sussex and when she's in a bad mood, best beware - she pecked me the other day. I have had to whip her off her feet and put her on her back a few times before now so that she knows that she isn't the boss of me! Yesterday I picked her up and had her under my arm no problemo. Think she's an attention seeker and will go about it any way she can. She's 2 now - our broody hen hatched her so she's always been handled. Her "sister" hatched at the same time is a cuckoo maran and also been handled since day 1. She's as skittish as they come and hates being picked up. But she'll follow OH around like a little dog. Yep, all different characters.

[chick wiggle]

As you can tell from all the posts, all chickens are different with very different characters. My appenzellers are very friendly, but my orps are so aloof. Ive had two silkies neither of them minded been picked up but much prefereed to be left alone, even by the other hens!

If you really want to 'tame' her, take her out the cube/eglu/coop after they have gone to roost for the night. They are so dosey and sleepy and cant be bothered to argue with you then, you can have a really good cuddle and in time they will get used to you.