Handling very young pet chicks: Yea or Nay? - Page 2

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squawkbox 

I pretty much maul mine  They are just so cute! They need to be handled to get socialized. No different than any other animal IMO.

This! lol. My kids hold them every chance they get too. We have ducks too that we handle as much as possible. I bought an adult drake in crossville a while back that wants little to nothing to do with us, but our other duck loves us. That can be the difference between being held and messed with alot and not. Also it makes it easier if you need to give meds, or trim nails.

Only deprived chicks don't get held. We hug and kiss ours daily, and feed them out of our hands. Tuck them into our shirts when they are cold and watch TV with them.  They are to enjoy!!! The only time I wouldn't try to hold chicks is if a mamma hen is ready to peck me if I do.

We've been holding our chicks since day 1. They are now 3 weeks old and when we go out to the coop then all run to us. Well except a few silkies they just never warmed up to us.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fierlin1182 

Although sometimes there'll just be an odd chicken with an anti-social personality who won't respond as well to the attention. I had one of those, and she still runs away when someone approaches, hanging around the back of the group during feeding. And she was one of the first too, meaning I used to spend a lot of time with her, being fascinated by having chickens.

This is true. My last group of easter eggers was extremely skittish...they are okay now, but they were terrified of anyone who walked past their brooder. They will come up to me now, infact they will rush me for treats. But when they were younger they wanted nothing to do with being held or cuddled....they didn't even like me to change their food and water or bedding.

Handling them as babies is an excellent way to socialize them. Just remember to wash your hands before and after. I like to keep a small bottle of hand sanitizer near my brooder. :)

Well, the youngest I have ever handled something is approximately half an hour of age - they were quails, moving them from the hatcher after they were dry to the brooder. By the end of the morning, my sister and I were carrying them around with us and watching TV with them (we do this with chickens a lot, too, both grown and babies). They're fine  with it and quite friendly.

Well I am glad to hear that we have 12 anxious little hands ready to hold and I was afraid they would kill them if they held them too much!!!