Have you ever smelled your chickens?

[MissJenny]

Wow. People smell their chickens? I never even pick mine up. I think it's because my dh keeps insisting they carry diseases and won't let my daughter pick up the chickens anymore! I don't like it when she picks them up either because it just seems like one quick peck and she could lose an eyeball.

I am crazy about my birds. But I have never sniffed them. Maybe I'm weird.

Not handle your birds? Diseases? If I wouldn't handle them I can't imagine why I'd have them.

I've got somebody on my lap or in my arms everyday. My brahma circles around my legs to be picked up. And I love to plunge my face into the deep feathers around their necks. To me they smell like a bale of straw -- fresh and clean and new.

Pick up a chick -- you might like it. They're soft, they coo.

Jenny​

 

[cindy99]

I can't imagine not being able to snuggle with them! They will jump right up into my lap - if you bend over they jump on your back (even my rooster). Gracie likes to snuggle right under my chin.

I am so happy that they aren't afraid of people at all. If there is a reason for them to be tucked in early - we just pick them right up. So far = no diseases.

We are very careful not to get our eyes close to them. Gracie nailed me right in the eyeball once. Very painful and I felt so STUPID. I guess my pupil looks like a raisin.

 

[noodleroo]

Quote:
Thank you very much; I just love taking pics of family with the chickens;

It's really not a very good idea to let them sit on your head, by the way - for lots of reasons...

 

[chicksrcool]

I'm a chicken smeller! haha they smell so good!

 

[bunnibird55]

Gee, I cuddle and smell my chickens every day - diseases? If they are taken care of properly, there shouldn't be any problems. If you eat the meat and the eggs, you sure don't want dirty/diseased animals. I held Spice Girl on my lap sitting in the sunshine today for quite a while. She closes her eyes and sleeps when I hold her. Mikey, my youngest cockeral prefers when I hold him and snuggle him! I prefer smelling any one of my 40 chickens to any of the bottled nasty perfumes that are so dangerous for our respiratory health. Essential oils are a lot more of a danger than smelling chickens! In addition to my 40 chickens, and nine ducks, I have 14 parrots that smell good too! Guess if it is strange to smell your chickens, I must be the queen of strange!!!

 

[NHchicks]

noodleroo - Another beautiful picture! Are those hens missing their tail feathers?

And cindy99, wow, that eyeball thing was scary.

I used to pick up my 4 chicks when they were babies, etc. The other 6 chickens we have were hatched by our broody hen tho, and she protected them so well (and charged at us if we went near them) that they grew up without human holding, and it made a huge difference. Now they're just all so big, I just let them be, I feed them a lot and watch them, talk to them, fuss over their coop, make sure they're safe and happy, but I really don't have a reason to pick them up. Our original (now grown) 4 chicks we can pick up if we need to, to check for mites or whatever, but most of the other 6 - they don't like it. Nah, I'm not really a chicken-picker-up-er-er.

 

[noodleroo]

Quote:
Thanks again, and yes, they are missing their tail feathers. We rescued them; someone dumped them (like some people do unwanted dogs and cats) on our little country road. We found them by the road one Sunday morning and DH went back that night with a fish landing net and caught 10 of them, built them a coop the next day and they tamed down really quick. We've lost some to a coyote problem a few months ago, but that is taken care of and one of them even went broody and raised 10 chicks. Her feathers are comming back in but she is the only one. I'm guessing they were kept in close quarters by the way the feathers were picked. Who in the world 'dumps' chickens???

 

[Jeeper1540]

Yep, ive smelled my chickens. wanna guess how they smelled right after a 'dust bath' in my horses and cows shelter?

they were having so much fun and i had to rip them out because i dont like to leave them out when we arent at the house, and we were about to go somewhere.

 

[NHchicks]

I asked my 10 yr. old last night if she ever smelled the chickens. She smiled and said yes, they smell like salty chips. So I guess that's the consensus - they smell like salty chips or fritos.

She said no wonder the foxes like them so much.

noodleroo- Just goes to show, one man's trash is another man's treasure. If you hadn't found those dumped birds, maybe you wouldn't have your great flock today? It makes them all the more precious when you know you changed their lives and made them happy.

 

[speckledhen]

How can I avoid it? Gypsy, my older black Ameraucana, must be held and carried around. I really should get a shoulder strap for my feathered purse, I swear. I buried my nose in her hackles just yesterday and asked her if she'd been rolling around in my dryer-she smelled almost like fabric softener! A healthy, well-kept chicken is a clean animal, unless someone poops on them from above or they step in some nasty stuff. Just look at all the time they spend grooming and preening! They want to be clean.