# What am I doing Wrong?



## NDChickie (Apr 6, 2016)

The chicks we got a week or two ago aren't NEARLY as friendly as our last chicks. We've done EVERYTHING the same as the last batch (only last batch was an unknown brwe'd and these ones are silkie and leghorns). It's very upsetting as my daughter wants a chick that will just chill in her lap like her last one and these chicks are CRAZY! What else should I try? They're handled everyday


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

Some breeds are more docile than others and some like to be handled more than others.I have found that Cochins are very friendly and love to be loved on.I have a rooster who lays in my lap to get his belly petted and he purrs.If you can purchase a few, go with 1 day olds.The younger the better. Cochins come in several colors and are great big balls of feathers-from head to toe.Any little girl would love them...


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## NDChickie (Apr 6, 2016)

I read silkies are generally fairly docile which is why I had my hubs pick up a couple of them and then the leghorns just for eggs.
I may have to see if I can't orders a couple Cochins here soon...just gonna have to add another roost to the coop xD


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## WeeLittleChicken (Aug 31, 2012)

Leghorns are skittish birds... they make for nice egg layers but you're probably not going to find a cuddly one. I have Mille Fleur Leghorns, who are supposed to be the most docile of the breed - ha! They're mental! Personally I think the crossing with leghorns (to increase egg production) is what has made a lot of hatchery birds of different breeds skittish as well. I say this because I have heard so many horror stories about hatchery RIR roosters that I never wanted one... but now I have a Heritage RIR and he's a huge feathered puppy -- follows you around, just looks at visitors curiously... very laid back bird!!

Seramas and silkies.... now those are cuddly birds! But if you want a larger cuddly breed there's also plenty to chose from. Rocks, Cochins, Brahmas, Orpingtons... etc. You're not doing anything wrong. There are several breeds who are just flighty - leghorns, lakkenvelders, jaerhorns, a number of the fancier bantams... There's lots of temperament profiles under normal breed descriptions. They're a pretty good indicator most of the time. Good luck!


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Silkies are super docile pet material. Give them a chance to get a bit bigger and they will be a wonderful pet. They can be held all day-including roosters. My roosters are all snuggly. They get very tame.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

If I read that right and that you have both Silkies and Leghorns, the Silkies are feeding off the lunacy of the Leghorns. If they were separate you would probably see a big difference in behavior.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

robin416 said:


> If I read that right and that you have both Silkies and Leghorns, the Silkies are feeding off the lunacy of the Leghorns. If they were separate you would probably see a big difference in behavior.


Hahahahaha! YUP!


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## kgb6days (Apr 1, 2016)

My leghorns are very friendly and will peck at me if I don't pick them up. My EEs were very skittish till the were integrated with the older ones. Then I became their BFF


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## NDChickie (Apr 6, 2016)

robin416 said:


> If I read that right and that you have both Silkies and Leghorns, the Silkies are feeding off the lunacy of the Leghorns. If they were separate you would probably see a big difference in behavior.


If I had an extra heat lamp and feeder I'd separate them up. But even then they'd end up in the same coop once old enough to.  Wouldn't they revert to lunacy if exposed to it again?


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Not once they are out of the chick stage. I had my Silkies just before I got out with my Hamburgs, they are very flighty, the Silkies totally ignored them.

When the peeps are young their predator alarms are on high alert. If the Leghorns are always running like they're being attacked the Silkies will follow.


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## WeeLittleChicken (Aug 31, 2012)

True.... my neurotic Brabanters are STILL alarm calling every three minutes (for forty five!!) The rest of the chickens wonder what their problem is and go about their normal business... (unless one of the calm ones alarm calls then you better bet you'll see them all racing for the barn!) Chicks are just impressionable...


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I would leave them together. No one is going to be friendly until they associate you with food. Especially a good treat. I don't give chicks treats but I do make them think they are getting them. I mix some chick feed and water and make a mush. Not too soft and not too hard. I do it every afternoon. By day 2 or 3, they are all my best friends. I find most chicks get friendly right before they start laying. I guess they're more affectionate then.


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## MikeA_15 (Feb 21, 2016)

Leghorns are easy to manage, but you can' be spastic around them or they tend to panic. I always said it takes me longer to tend to a flock of leghorns because I have to move slower. California whites and California Grays both have leghorn in their ancestry and are easy to manage in my opinion. Silkies raised with Leghorns are too very different breeds in temperament. You may experience no problems at all raising them together, but from my experiences, I prefer to raise birds of similar temperament, appearance, and size together or not mix breeds at all. Crested breeds are often picked on by non-crested breeds, larger breeds may pick on small breeds, etc.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Yeah, Mike and some small breeds will beat the bejesus out of a large fowl. I got to see that a couple of times before I sold out.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Sometimes I just ask myself day by day " is the situation getting better or worse?"


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

seminolewind said:


> Sometimes I just ask myself day by day " is the situation getting better or worse?"


LOL

The message you have entered is too short. Please lengthen your message to at least 10 characters.


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## MikeA_15 (Feb 21, 2016)

robin416 said:


> Yeah, Mike and some small breeds will beat the bejesus out of a large fowl. I got to see that a couple of times before I sold out.


Oh, yes. I knew a guy whose Rosecomb Bantam rooster got out with his big Wyandotte rooster and killed him. I was mad at him since I like Wyandottes so much.


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