Getting close with my hens!

[Amelia94]

Hi everyone!

Im new to chicken keeping, we have 4 had them about a week now. 2 leghorns ones a cross, one were not sure and a bluebell. Bluebell is the top chick!
Two of them are about a year old the other 2 are about 18 weeks now.

I love them! Getting up in the morning and letting them out feeding them checking their eggs and watching them is my new favourite thing to do.

Im making noises to tell them im friendly something to associate with treats, food, my presence in general. They're very happy as we had eggs from night 1 and they havent stopped! They have plenty to do too

My question to you all is how does one get cuddly with them and closer for pets?
Any favourite treats you guys use that your hens love?

Im letting them come to me im not getting in their space. They were giving us a wide birth at first but as we work on their run and garden they've gotten really used to us now and they'll walk past us slowly knowing we're not a threat.

They recognise my sounds as being friendly and chirpy and they get exited when we get close because we often have treats theyre not eating out of my hands yet.

Thank you all in advance

 

[RubelliteRose]

Welcome to the wonderful world of chickens
The best way to get really friendly chickens is to get them when they are tiny babies. The second best way is to keep doing what you are doing with your flock! Spend lots of time with them. Chickens are prey animals and it can take quite a while for them to fully trust you. Instead of giving them treats to build trust, try offering them a handful of their food. When we are taming broody raised babies, they are suspicious of treats, but do recognize their food and are much more willing to eat out of our hands when food is offered. Hopefully all of your girls will become super friendly, but do know that each chicken has their own level of friendliness. We treat all our chickens the same. All of them can be handled but vary in their friendship levels. Some are super cuddly and love to sit on laps. Some prefer to just sit beside us. Some will come up and eat food or treats, but prefer not to be touched unless necessary. Each is different and that is ok

 

[Altairsky]

In my experience, the only way to get a truly cuddly chicken is:
- hatch them in an incubator and watch them hatch as much as you can
- raise the chicks in a brooder in your house, in a busy room, and interact with them as often as you can.

My only cuddly chickens are those I raised in my kitchen and hatched myself and got imprinted on me.
They're cuddly with me and my husband, but still feral with strangers.
Chose your breeds wisely.
Get rid of the males. Males raised this way have a great chance to turn human aggressive.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

I sort of don’t want cuddly chickens! But I do want them to not lose their minds in terror if I have to pick them up for a health check, etc. I got them as 6-8 week old pullets, so they definitely didn’t imprint.

I do what you mentioned: I sit on a folding chair and remain relatively still, humming or singing a bit. When one looks at me or comes near me, I say “hey, Willow” or whatever. They get used to my presence and accept it pretty quickly.

I also occasionally (NOT always - don’t set up this association in their minds) bring a bag of raw sliced almonds with me, which seem to be heavenly ambrosia to them, offering them by hand. Prepare for accidental pecks so that you don’t over-react and frighten them.

My flightiest pullet is the only one who will hop up on me for the almonds, and I need to keep them coming!

“Well???”