[lucyandnoel]

Okay, maybe not an actual fear but I am somewhat afraid of birds. Way before the Great Egg Fiasco of 2023 we planned on getting chickens in spring of 2023. Go figure.

Please don't hate me, I'm just not a bird person. I don't hate them, I'm just somewhat afraid of them haha. With this, I've been advised to get chicks so that they can grow up with me and have an attachment to the children and me. Has anyone else gotten chickens who was initially afraid/off put and developed a better bond with them unexpectedly? I don't want them to feel hated but I also don't want them to realize they could totally chase me around the yard and win.

 

[toth boer goats]

Some birds can be a bit intimidating.

Some roosters are mean and I will not stand for that so on with the next, especially if I want him around and make more chickens.

I raised a Dominic rooster and he hasn’t even tried to attack me.

Good for you for being strong and face your fears. Eggs are pretty rewarding to have to go through that. 🤗

 

[friesian49]

My grandfather had 3 hen houses and we'd have to help gather eggs as a kid and I hated going to get the egg when the hen was sitting on them. They were not socialized at all and would peck the heck out of you, likely 100+ birds in each building.

I got 2 chicks from a swap at the local TSC back in 2018. I was still nervous, took my brother's wife who has 50+ chickens, had them all her life. So I picked two, that looked friendly and didn't run from me in the small container they had. They were about 2 months, maybe? Anyway, it took them awhile to figure things out here, as did I, but while I lost one of them to a hawk, the other one, Sophia, is my little buddy. You'll just fall in love with them, they get used to you and follow you around for food, come running when you are out, clean up your compost, eat your bugs. Just got to clean up a bit of poop and either eat or find people that want the eggs!

Maybe you are thinking of a rooster? I'm leery of getting a rooster cause yeah, as a kid, we had some aggressive ones. But hens are less likely to do that, although I'm sure there are hens will do this.

Sophia, my first one, would let you pick her up all the time. My Mother loves her, she'd ignore me and go say hi to Sophia, picking her up and kissing her. She's not a fan of being held right now, but still is our favorite!

Do you have any friends that have them, to just get familiar with them?

 

[jmarie]

I highly recommend Buckeye chickens if you’re wanting a more pet-like chicken. They’re an excellent dual purpose breed and do well free-range or in a smaller yard. I’ve raised more chicken breeds than I can even count over the years, and I would say of all they have the most mellow, laid back temperament. Of course if you’re just wanting eggs and don’t want to be friends with the chickens lol you could always go with a flightier breed like leghorns. I also keep brown leghorns and they lay the most of all, but they also run from me if I get too close lol. We have no bond other than food and believe me, they don’t care. And they give me lots of eggs! They just kinda mind their own business and they’re super good at finding their own food too. But they also do better with more space, not a small run. As far as a rooster, you don’t necessarily need one if you’re not planning on breeding your chickens. As others mentioned they are the most scary and can be very dangerous. If they’re aggressive, they can stab you with their spurs. I keep only friendly roos, if they hit me once they go in the soup pot. But even the friendly ones I still never turn my back on and wouldn’t trust them with children. I’ve never in all my years had a hen behave aggressively towards me. And the only time they chase is when they’re hungry and you have food.

 

[friesian49]

@jmarie made a good point about the breeds. I'd not recommend a Buff Orpington, which is what my little Sophia is. She's great most of the time, but they are known for going being broody - where they basically won't move for 30+ days - they think they are hatching eggs even when there isn't an egg. It throws everyone off, me, chicks and she's just a hot mess. I wouldn't get that breed again. I have a Jersey Giant and another smaller ones - I had to add when I lost one and then again when Sophia went broody. Thankfully my brother and wife have enough that I can acquire a nice one for the flock from them.

 

[jmarie]

Oh yes, very good point about the broodiness. Barred rocks are another one I can think of, they were always pretty broody ones for me. And some just will not give it up no matter what! It does cause a lot of issues in the nest boxes. My broody ones try to hoard eggs and yell at all the other chickens when they go in the coop to lay! Not to mention they can get a little violent when you try to get the eggs from under them in my case I have certain ones that are broody and since I hatch chicks each spring anyway I just relocate them and let them hatch some too.

 

[KY Goat Girl]

We’ve had chickens my whole life and I still to this day don’t like them They just have this glint in their eyes all the time lol Currently my sister has Black Star hens (and one silver laced Wyandotte) and we just got a Lavender Orpington rooster. If your getting a rooster, I strongly recommend doing your research on the most laid back breeds. Lavender Orpington and Favorolle roosters I can tell you from experience are very sweet. Any other roosters I’ve ever come in contact with have become mean whether I do anything to provoke them or not.
Here is the Favorolle when he was younger. He’s bigger now and the kids can just scoop him up and carry him and he’s fine with it. He was actually raised from a chick by them so that helps.

And here’s Monte, the Lavender rooster. Not super socialized but he’s very calm and can be easily caught and petted.

Since you say your a bit scared of chickens, then I think you’ll enjoy raising them from chicks and bonding with them.

 

[daisymay]

get silkies! they are so cute you cant be afraid of them. however, they do go broody alot and dont lay when broody and they are a bantam breed... BUT they are cute and sweet. After you get used to them you can buy hatching eggs locally and have your silkies hatch them.... just an idea.

 

[Dandy Hill Farm]

We've only had hens and raised them all from chicks. We've NEVER had a mean one that would attack us....quite the opposite actually. Several of hens became sooo friendly that they'd run over to us begging for attention. We called the ones that did that, "lap chickens" because they thoroughly enjoyed being held (no joke!). I honestly didn't know just how sweet and loving some chickens could be before we got them!

We only have two chickens now. One of which has a cross beak and is the absolute sweetest! Because of her beak, she has to eat wet food which gets pretty messy! Every few months we have to bathe her and she really doesn't mind much at all! She'd totally love to be a house chicken if we let her 😅
Here's some pictures from her last "spa session" (she was in the middle of molting hence why she looks a bit rough).

 

[Cedarwinds Farm]

I was not a chicken person. I wasn't afraid of them, I just never really liked them. I took over the chickens a few years ago, since there wasn't anyone else to do it. I am having a great time with those birds! My rooster is very nice and non-agressive. I will not tolerate a mean rooster. I currently have a mixed flock, and I think my favorite birds in terms of egg production are the McMurray Red Stars. They are egg laying machines! My Black Australorps are amazingly gentle. They do go broody, and I've had one that hatched several batches of eggs and even adopted some young guinea keets and raised them for me. She never pecks me, even when she's broody and I'm messing with her eggs. So if you want a gentle and non-threatening bird, I would recommend the McMurray strain of Black Australorp!

 

[SayYesToGoats]

I was scared of chickens also when I was a kid but I got over it after raising up some chicks. I feel like I know them lol. All my roos are super nice but I had one that was super mean would chase me and try to bite me. We don't have him anymore. I was also scared of goats for some reason when we first had some. lol 😂

 

[Jessica84]

Well I can not say I have been scared of chickens but I dispose mice and just the thought of any mouse touching me I would get chills because they grossed me out………then my son saved a mouse a kid bought on a dare and just turned it loose. I did NOT want that mouse in my house but it came home, we became friends, I almost lost a finger saving her from my house cat and then I cried when she died. So I totally understand! I think raising as chicks is a good idea. If you handle them a lot they won’t be as flighty. Also breeds make a difference. I have had many different kinds of chickens and cochins are stupid sweet. They are not rated the best layers but imo I think they would be great starter chickens

 

[FizzyGoats]

You will fall in love with the little fluffy chicks and nurture them as they grow and you’ll likely love them just as much when they’re feathery t-rexes running the yard.

I was a bit afraid of turkeys. When I was a kid, I was repeatedly attacked by one we had. I decided to get turkeys because I figured they’d be easy for me to butcher for meat. I have 17 turkeys now (had 29 before butchering time) and I truly enjoy the birds now. Never thought I’d be able to say that I enjoy having a whole bunch of turkeys running around, but here I am, saying it and meaning it.

 

[BarnOwl]

I love my chickens. They are so much fun to raise and watch, and are relatively easy to keep. Of course, the fresh eggs are wonderful. It would be hard to go back to store-bought eggs now.

I wouldn't recommend getting roosters until you feel comfortable around hens. Many of the mail-order hatcheries sell sexed females (although they don't always get orders 100% right, it's pretty close). Also, some breeds might be better for you than others--salmon favorelles, orpingtons, and brahmas have a reputation for being calm and friendly.

I have a small hobby farm (and even that sounds like an overstatement, lol). I keep animals because they bring me joy, and I like raising some of my own food. I tried keeping pigs and quail, but I felt stretched too thin. My time with them felt only like a chore. So ultimately I decided to keep only goats and chickens. I think you'll enjoy chickens, especially if you start out with cute little chicks. But if you try it, and don't enjoy it, no shame in concentrating on to other things.

 

[Lyreth]

Yes! I am afraid of birds. When I was little a friend of my parents had a very mean parrot that would bite at people through the cage whenever someone walked by and then it would talk to you, it was just very scary. So I have this childhod fear of birds. When I first got chickens I was afraid of them, too, but they are used to being picked up and petted since they were little hatchlings. I have one chicken in particular that runs over to me in the morning and squats waiting to be picked up. She is so sweet she has really won me over and I am not afraid of them anymore. I don't keep a rooster though. I haven't figured out the trick to getting a sweet rooster. My mom had a rooster that was so calm and sweet we called it Judy because we thought it was a hen until it started crowing lol. I have raised a bunch of roosters from chicks, but they always end up getting bossy and when I get too scared to go outside by myself we end up eating them.

 

[Tanya]

We have a Leghorn rooster called Chris. He loves his girls - 2 of his grand daughters and a white layer. He is tame to a point but not agressive - his son Caxton is so tame but very into shoes and will never father any chicks...

The three females are two 3 month orphington cross Leghorns and the layer. What lovely ladies. They are wonderful if you can hand rear them. You will find they are actually very intellegent and loving.

Oh and I have two young homosapians that also like to roost every now and then.

 

[Yuki]

Chickens are great! I promise! We have never had a mean hen but roosters can be. We have one rooster now and he is so sweet. He’s going on 5 years old and have never did anything to anybody. The hens can be sassy when broody but they won’t attack you. My brother is scared of them too. He thinks they are evil dinosaurs with teeth. You’ll be happy you got them especially when they start laying

Here’s some pictures. One of some babies we got in and then blackout my rooster

 

[Brooklynn J.]

My mom hates birds and yet she’s had near 40 at one time 😂
She has a lavender Orpington, a welsummer hen and rooster, an Easter egger, and two each of olive eggers, prairie bluebelles, Australorps, and something else I can’t remember.
plus mascovy ducks that keep flying off into the sunset.

 

[Nubiangoatfarm]

I love chickens and personally after years of having them I have never had one attack me.

 

[Lyreth]

oh, I love ducks. Weirdly I am not afraid of ducks. I even have drakes. They can be bossy with their hens and even the dogs sometimes, but they seem to be shy of people. I haven't ever had a problem with a mean duck. Mine don't lay as predictably as chickens or I would be willing to keep only ducks.