Hi! I hope this isn't asking too much, but if you ever feel like elaborating on your tonic immobility post, may I ask how a poultry owner can most reliably tell if their birds are exhibiting an extreme fear response vs being genuinely snuggly? I pick my chickens and turkeys up quite a bit and they usually have a pattern of wiggling presumably to adjust position before they just chill in my arms. Could their 'chilling' actually be a fear response that I've been ignoring? Thank you in advance!
Hi, thanks for the really thoughtful question! I hope that post didn’t make any poultry owners feel bad about themselves, but rather encourage them to stop and think about what their pets might actually be feeling.
I don’t think I can really give you a straight answer over the internet, without seeing in person how your chickens and turkeys interact with you, and without knowing the history of your relationship with them. On that note, there are a few things you can consider:
1) Are your chickens used to being held and snuggled? I.e. have you been doing it for a long time, and better yet, did you train them to learn to form a positive association with physical contact through careful counter-conditioning and desensitization? As an extreme example, trying to cuddle a newly-adopted ex-battery hen who’s never been held gently is not going to fly well - and even if she seems to stop struggling after the initial panic, that would almost certainly be due to tonic immobility/an extreme fear response.
2) Generally, animals tend not to eat under stress - even if you wave their favourite treat in their face. If you offer a treat to your bird while they’re being held (and I would recommend doing this anyway to reinforce/reward calm behaviour in this situation) and they either ignore it or hold it in their beak without trying to swallow it, then it’s likely that they are too distracted by stress/fear/anxiety to eat, which subsequently means that they’re probably uncomfortable being held. If they do take food and eat it while sitting in your arms, this indicates that they are feeling relaxed and safe enough to let their guard down and enjoy a treat.
3) What is their behaviour like before and after they’re picked up? Do they seem to walk/run up to you and actively seek out physical affection, and once you put them down, do they stay close to you or even look like they want to be picked up again? If they run away immediately, they were probably wanting to get themselves out of that situation - they might not enjoy being held, they were held for too long, etc.
As I say for all questions like these (*over the internet*), at the end of the day the owner knows their pet(s) and their behaviour best. If you trust yourself to be able to empathize with your chickens and accurately read their body language, then I think you can decide whether their behaviour indicates fear/anxiety or contentment, whether they wiggle to adjust themselves or because they’re actually trying to escape. I would say the same goes for those who might be wondering whether their chickens genuinely enjoy being held and petted, or just tolerate it for the treats that might follow.
I hope this helps - feel free to ask more questions or DM me if not!
