How do you get a chicken to hop onto your shoulder?

[werttyy]

Pics please!

 

[Life is Good!]

Why would you want this?
Eyes are glassy, and chickens are known to peck any shiny thing. (and if female - earrings are great 'toys' which get ripped out of ears, oh lookie, something red, I'll peck at it too!)
Chickens poop unexpectedly (and large quantity).
Chicken talons are sharp and rip clothing and clothes.
Chickens tend to have a fowl odor on them - which will transfer onto you (then go out to dinner/date?!)
Chickens tend to weigh quite a lot - standard size, 6-8#'s, place a 5# bag of flour on your shoulder and walk around with it for a while...repeat...often...like it?
Why would you want this again? They're not parrots. If you want a bird to perch on your shoulder, get a cockatiel.

 

[la-pro]

My chicks do it naturally, they're only about 11 weeks old. I'd actually rather they didn't, but sometimes when I hold them they hop up. Pretty sure they think I'm Mommy. I hope they don't try to peck my eyes out!

 

[pipthepeep]

Mine did it when they were younger, then seemed to grow out of it. Then, for a while, my young full grown roo started doing it again, but I could always tell when he was going to because he would stare at my head with this weird look. I could usually discourage it by picking him up, but one time I wasn't paying attention, and he flew straight up and perched on top of my ball cap. weird.

 

[ChickyLove]

My chicky hen tried this a few times. Each time I took her down with a firm "NO!" and placed her on my lap for petting instead. I do NOT want her (or any other one I own) to get in this habit. In addition to all the things that Life is Good mentioned, the higher up a chicken goes, the more dominance it is trying to assert. You do NOT want your chickens to think they are tops. They need to understand that YOU are in charge not them. Henpecked has more than one meaning...

 

[justtoni44]

OK, heres the deal for me.
First, I would not go anywhere but the barn in my barn clothes

I take a shower before I go anywhere because...well. I'd rather be in the barn than any other place in the world and it just makes sense.
I have a hen named Polly........She sometimes rides on my shoulder.....made the decision to do this herself.
She is named Polly because she chats the whole time she is up there.
I suppose it could happen , but she has never pooped on me.
For one thing she does not stay that long.
We have an old hen named Sweetie,(because she is) that likes to nap on my husbands lap
And our main man roo named Boots who likes to be held and petted.............in fact will follow us around the barn until he is picked up.
Honestly, it has never crossed my mind that there is anything wrong with this.
I have aprox. 50 chickens that I call by name and can tell you thier heritage and hatch month and year by memory............
I don't like Cockatiels but love my chickens

Maybe I spend to much time with my chickens

 

[BrattishTaz]

My younger birds just started flying up. I didn't do anything to encourage it.

My adult roo (in my avatar) still does. He refuses to walk if people are around. You do have to be very careful because you will get pecked in the eye if you look at them. An accidental spur in the ear does not feel nice either.

 

[epeloquin]

My Rocks have always come to us very readily where the Rhodies are a little less cuddly. The Rocks will sit on my lap and preen/nap all the time and they sometimes hop onto my shoulder. One likes it on my head (only allowed when I have my cap on). I really don't let the Rhodies on my shoulder. I have one in particular who likes to sit and preen/nap too but they are peckers. My nephew's kid got it once bacause he was lying on the ground in front of them and did not listen to me repeatedly telling him it was not smart. Anyway, my Rocks are far more gentle in that way but I am still cautious. I do let them on my shoulder but mostly I enjoy having them on my lap.

You can encourage it with treats, gentle petting, soft talking etc. If they don't come up try grabbing them one at a time and trying the aforementioned.

 

[krissteff]

If I bend over to pick something up or pet one of the other chickens, one of my white leghorns always sees that as an opportunity to hop on my back or shoulders and go for a ride. unfortunately, they are the ones who always poop on my lap when I'm giving out treats so I don't really want them up there on my shoulders. their dagger claws aren't all that pleasant either since it takes a minute for them to balance while I'm spinning around yelling "get offa me, get offa me."

 

[Mommy 2 Wee Ones]

I have 3 Rocks, and they love to hop on my lap when I go out to the run to sit & watch them. Baby Girl is always first, she loves to snuggle and take a cat nap. When the other two girls see her on my lap they come a running. Yesterday , Baby Girl was on my lap, Fiesta was on my arm & Queen Bee was on my head. Now when my Buffs see Baby Girl on my lap, they will hop up on my lap too.
My girls are about 6 weeks old, and love to play chase when one of them has found a bug. Today was Dust Bath Day for all of them, but it was a bit cooler today, did not get over the 100 mark.