How should you hold a chicken?

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Use one arm to hold them like a football; tucked securely but not too tightly between your chest and your arm. Use the hand on the other arm to support their feet. Chickens, particularly young chickens, don't like the sensation of floating in the air, so their feet need to touch your palm.
When I shift one of mine around to set them down, I grasp them in both hands with my thumbs up over the wings, to prevent them from flapping their wings.
 
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This is how I hold them.

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make sure the winds are tucked in so they cant get hurt if they flap them. and by the way....getting pooped on is part of holding a chicken.
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Believe it or not, my chickens are 21 weeks old and I've yet to be pooped on! *knock on wood* I've stepped in plenty of it, even stuck my hand in it once. The best was this morning at 8 am when I stepped in it barefoot. :thun
 
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That is a good secure way to hold them.

I too use the football hold, but I place the bend of my arm around the wing area, just a little forward of this pic, this allows the butt to be further away from me, keeps me from getting pooped on.
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If you're trying to get a rooster to submit, you can use this one.

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Thanks. We think he is a Faverole cross. The folks that gave him to me didn't know. He is a pretty cool bird though, not people aggressive at all.
 
I didn't have any advice when I first started, so I just did it, it seemed to work.

I hold my hand palm side up and slide it under the chicken, one leg between by ring finger & pinky finger, and the other thigh/leg between my index finger & thumb (index & middle finger for chicks)... leaving my index finger as the main support under their bodies. I "pinch" their legs between those fingers, close my hand to bring their legs in a little closer & provide a bigger platform for their underneath and slowly lift.. they don't fight or flap, it was a great first attempt. They are now several months old and still have no problem being lifted up this way..

If I don't have their thighs securely in my grip they will flap. You can tell immediately when you start to lift the weight, so I set their feet back on the ground, reposition and try again

btw.. this works particularly well for me because I can pick up two chickens at a time, just swoop them up... what a time saver when moving them here or there
 
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i'd say it depends on the chicken. in general, the suggestions above are all really sensible and work well. unless you're my hen, felicity, and then this is the way you prefer to be held, no lie:

attackficky.jpg


please don't hold your chickens this way as a matter of course, but this hen is a little nuts. i think she thinks she's a velociraptor or something.
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no matter how i start out holding her and doing it the "nice" way, she always ends up like this. it's especially fun to watch the kids carrying her from her run to the coop every evening with her out in front of them like a vicious attack hen.
 

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