Are your chickens tame????

[Ms~Silkie~Girl]

My chickens are really tame, even my rooster. I have raised them since baby chicks and they are tame. Sometimes they dont want to be bothered so they run away if i try to catch them, but all together they are pretty tame. I play with my rooster all the time, he lays on my lap sometimes. And my silkie, she comes in the house sometimes

, she loves to cuddle in our arms and sleep on our laps!

If you pick them up and be gentle they should be tame. (also when my rooster was a couple months old i would spray him with the hose a couple times to show him who's boss

)

 

[crazyhen]

I think chickens are like people. All are different. I have some that will run to me and peck at me to hold them and pet them. Others will go crazy if I get to close to them. All in all they are tame.
I start out when they are little holding them. When I approach them I try to be slow,my hand below them as chicks. That way they are not as frightened. Later as they start the squat just before laying you can come from above, although they still rather have me come from under their roost to pick them up with my hands. Remember we are one of their preditors and its inborn to be frightened of us. It takes time to form relationships like this. Gloria jean

 

[chixie]

my silkies and two barred rocks are friendlier than my other chickens... especially when we have treats...we call my barred rocks redneck parrots because they like sitting on our arms and shoulders...

 

[mandelyn]

Mine are VERY tame, though I didn't raise them from chicks, the youngest I got them was at 4 months. I held them then as often as I could, fed treats by hand, and quickly became the all-powerful food lady earning all chicken respect.

They're not tame for anyone else, Prissy sometimes, if you sit still long enough and talk to her.

When I was at a Flea Market in the booth of a chicken seller, the seller got upset when someone just reached their hand int a cage without talking to the birds first. When he talked to them, they were easy to catch and didn't make a scene. When I bought two hens from him, they were pretty wild, but nice enough when I worked slow transferring from the cages and talked to them. They've since become pretty decent pets for games.

I have 3 out of 6 who jump on me. Prissy demands to be held, and will fly into my lap on command or when she feels like, but she's never ignored me when I asked her. I wiggle my fingers on my lap, and say "Come here pretty girl" and up she comes.

Rooster will ride on my shoulder, sit on the back of my chair, and enjoys having his waddles rubbed (that just sounds wrong...)

Chipmunk is the meanest, it's taken months to where I can grab her, and she still doesn't "like" it. But she's a pig and I use that against her.

Lil'Bit will run towards me in hopes that I have food, and will stand still while I pet her or pick her up... doesn't care at all.

Holding them helps, but it needs to be like twice a day or more. Food works even better when combined with holding. Making them do stuff for the food... like sprinkling it on your lap and they have to jump up for it... that helps.

Chickens rely on sound, so make some noises so they know it's you. Attach a noise to each thing you do... feeding time say something, bedtime... say something else. When you're approaching with food... make a noise. After awhile that noise will bring them running/flying full speed whether you have food or not.

 

[JakRat]

Quote:
I miss my girls being that little!!!!mine are goofy though, when they were little they were all about running around and being mischevious...anyway now they will follow me around the yard and call me whenever I come outside... they are still goofy to hold though, when the misbehave I pick them up with both hands and place their back on my shoulder and they calm down ( of course I look goofy holding a chicken on my shoulder)... if i need to check them out i always place their head/front against me (almost like horse blinders??) and they are really good... anyother way they dont like it... I would suggest sitting down and placing safflower seeds or something on you lap and they will usually come over... mine do and then I am swarmed with 6 RIR jumping all over me!

<sigh> I love my girls

 

[Big Red's Mom]

Quote:
My friend came down to see the chickens and was jumping around like crazy....I asked what happened and she said,"Your chickens are getting my toes." When I actually looked at her feet (in flip flops) she had fresh painted shinny Red toenails........
In the summer I have to pay more attention to peoples feet......

 

[Jonell]

Most of mine are tame.
I do a Noon treat, I yell girls, girls and they come running, I mean waddling.
I held every chicken every night for weeks. Yes it took me about 30-45mins. I still hold them at random and the ones that shy away. I close my girls up every night, but they free range durning the day.

6RIR 5Welsum 6BuffOrp 2LegH 1RIR Rooster 1LegH Rooster
Yes I have time on my hands...

 

[chickenmamalp]

Today we tried giving treats for the first time (GRAPES) they went nuts!!!!!!!!!!!
Now i know what you all mean by picking at your toes--ouch!
oh, I sat on the ground and made them" jump jump "to get their treat. My husband took a video on his phone . I'll have to see if you can upload movies. I quess my 6 girls are considered tame at this moment.
I want all the babies to be. My little silkies are just starting to fluff out they look soooo cute.

 

[lemurchaser]

My mixed breed hen is by far the friendliest, but she's also blind and was hand-raised (as in she could only find the food when I held her). She's the only one that seems to like being handled. My partridge rock (and barred rock, before she died) were the friendliest. They always would come see what I was doing, come when called, and were just generally sociable. My wyandottes just don't have that same personality, they just seem a little more aloof. And my EE's think I'm the scariest thing in the world. My friends call them the evil chickens.

It seems like its a combo of the personality and breed of the chicken, and the amount of handling they get when young. And they seem to be friendly as chicks or hens, but not as the gangly adolescents.

 

[basketmom]

My chickens are tame. I have 10 hens and one rooster (6 months). Me and my kids have held them since day one and we can go in and pick them up anytime we want and they do not run. They even follow me around when I'm outside, it's funny having a trail of waddling chickens running after me