Birds normally imprint to the first thing they see and hear - usually their mother, so they automatically can recognize mom. This way even in a crowd, they know exactly who their mother is. When this process occurs with humans, the birds see them as family, and are very friendly and people oriented as adults. The first 24 hours after hatching is when the babies imprint so if you spend a lot of time talking to them and playing broody mama like I am today, you will wind up with very social birds, who like being around people. Our imprints from last year will instantly cuddle when you pick them up, despite being free range for months. Our non imprinted ducklings from last year didn't like to be handled, and some were downright mean. One hen got a hold of my daughter's face and left quite the bruise!
These ducklings come from show quality parents, so imprinted babies will be much easier for me to show when they are older, and will be docile for the judges. Plus, my kid just loves cuddling with our birds!
It works on mammals too - you can train horses easier when you imprint them to the halter, saddle, bridle, and common procedures such as having their feet handled for cleaning and farrier work at birth. You gently place tack on the newborn foal, and try to be as soothing and natural as possible. They end up hard wired to think it is normal to be tacked up!
