Help me design a scientific method to "test" chicks for tameness

[Bluegenes]

I guess I should have put "scientific" in quotations. I'm not planning on doing something that I could publish in a peer-reviewed journal, just a test that is as accurate as possible in assessing which chicks are born with an inclination toward tameness. And if I am the only one handling the chicks I'm not sure how many variables there would really be other than the amount of time spent handling each chick, which I plan to keep consistent. I will be getting the chicks in increments of 15-40, so I won't have 200 all at once. With each batch I will determine which are the tamest, keep those and sell the rest. Of course, how chicks are raised determines to some degree how tame they become, but IME (and a lot of science is pointing this way too) a huge component is genetic. You can make a chicken tamer than it would have been if it hadn't been handled as a chick, but you can't make it tamer than it is genetically programmed to be. That's why when I've raised batches of chicks before some hens who were handled the exact same way and amount as the other still had no interest in human interaction, while others turned out tamer than most dogs. And calm isn't the same as tame, either. E.g. All the Wyandottes I've ever had have been calm, but none were personable or craved human interaction.

The test I am considering would probably go something like this: take chicks out in increments of 5 and record how many times each one approaches me in a given amount of time. And then I will also probably do something where I hold each chicks and see how long they "cuddle" with me before taking off (if unrestrained). I just want something a bit more objective than "Gee, I seem to remember this one being seeming friendlier than this other one."

I've done similar things before where I ordered groups of chicks and just kept the tamest ones, but this time I just want it to be more intentional and, well, scientific.

 

[MissChick@dee]

I guess I should have put "scientific" in quotations. I'm not planning on doing something that I could publish in a peer-reviewed journal, just a test that is as accurate as possible in assessing which chicks are born with an inclination toward tameness. And if I am the only one handling the chicks I'm not sure how many variables there would really be other than the amount of time spent handling each chick, which I plan to keep consistent. I will be getting the chicks in increments of 15-40, so I won't have 200 all at once. With each batch I will determine which are the tamest, keep those and sell the rest. Of course, how chicks are raised determines to some degree how tame they become, but IME (and a lot of science is pointing this way too) a huge component is genetic. You can make a chicken tamer than it would have been if it hadn't been handled as a chick, but you can't make it tamer than it is genetically programmed to be. That's why when I've raised batches of chicks before some hens who were handled the exact same way and amount as the other still had no interest in human interaction, while others turned out tamer than most dogs. And calm isn't the same as tame, either. E.g. All the Wyandottes I've ever had have been calm, but none were personable or craved human interaction.

The test I am considering would probably go something like this: take chicks out in increments of 5 and record how many times each one approaches me in a given amount of time. And then I will also probably do something where I hold each chicks and see how long they "cuddle" with me before taking off (if unrestrained). I just want something a bit more objective than "Gee, I seem to remember this one being seeming friendlier than this other one."

I've done similar things before where I ordered groups of chicks and just kept the tamest ones, but this time I just want it to be more intentional and, well, scientific.

Breed to a certain point will point you in the right direction. My most cuddly the one who wants and seeks out my affection, follows me like a puppy...is my white leghorn. Go figure that huh?