How to tame new chicks?

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Mine don't seem to mind how I pick them up, but when I pick them up (the claaaaaw) it's usually only for a second or two to get them off the waterer so I can clean and refill it.
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My chicks were always scared of me, no matter how slowly I approached them or how gently I picked them up. I didn't give up, though, and continued to pick them up and talk soothingly to them every day. Now that they're all adults, they follow me around the yard, talk to me when they hear their names - yes, each of my hens knows her name and responds when I call to her specifically - and they are all very affectionate. 1 loves to sit on my shoulders and won't let me hold her any other way. She rests her head against my cheek and coos into my ear. All the others have their preference for how they want to be carried; tucked under my arm like a football or held against my chest on their back while I rub their bellies and tickle their toes. I know you're anxious to make them love you but as they develop their personalities over time you'll all figure out how to live happily ever after
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Hold them daily. I have found that chickens are calm as newborns, wild as teenagers and then calm down as adults. Chickens are quick to figure out where their food and treats come from. Our adult chickens, even our white leghorns, will jump in your lap if you go in and sit in their pen.
 
Summer98 said:
So my new chicks are here and I am wondering how to properly handle them so they become tame and friendly.  I pick them up with both hands and they squirm around quite a bit and don't like being held.  A few will calm down and sit quietly in my hands.  Petting them doesn't really work because they squirm around too much and I don't want to drop them.  I make sure to talk to them when I look into their box (even though my voice startles them).  I'm thinking they can get used to my voice that way.  Any tips?  They are 5 days old.
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I have older chicks and younger chicks that I have treated the same way since day one yet each group reacts to me differently.
The older group is much more skittish and does NOT like to be picked up. They never really have but it got worse when I added guineas and they were really skittish and ran like hell anytime I came near. I think that really freaked the older group out and they all went into group panic mode.
My little ones have never had a problem being handled and didn't freak out even when everyone else was panicking, so I think it might be individual to the chickens on whether or not they like to be picked up.
 
My chicks are two weeks old and they are slowly warming up to me and my handling of them. It was warm the other day and I set up a dog pen outside and sat inside with them. It was amazing to see them looking to me for protection and exploring their new environment. They were walking over my feet. I talk to them and call them by name when I hold them in my lap. Slow hand movements from day one have won them over. Winnie actually walked onto my hand this morning and melted my heart
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My chicks are two weeks old and avoid me at all cost when I try to pick them up or get into the brooder to change water and food. Hopefully they will eventually warm up.
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I got my 6 Buff Orps and 6 Siger Wyandottes today.. I put them in the brooder and left them to get acclimated. A couple of time I just knelt ajd looked in. I put my hand in away frpm the birds and just dangled it. Then they started following my finger around. Now they are fine with me. (I'm not going to get too close as they will be eaten.) And all this in about 4 hours. Got them at 3 and they were my friends around 7. I got mine from Longhorn farms so they may have been used to people.
 

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