Nothing impossible about it! It is easy to get chicks to imprint! Like the previous poster said, its all about time and treats!
We got 15 baby chicks last spring, and set up a brooder cage right in the living room, I lined it with newspaper, and changed it twice a day. When the weather was nice, I took everyone out, put them in a cat crate, (eventually two cat crates, cause they grew so much) and took them out into the garden with me! they would spend the day outside scratching and roaming around! I set up a pen with movable panels and a heat light, and food and water, that always stayed in one place, and released them from the crate into that pen every morning, then after a few minutes, opened that pen and let em run! When ever they got cold, or scared, they would return to that pen, or if nap time came, which was often when they were young, they would go back to the pen, and nestle down under the lights and snooze. (oh, I covered one end, as protection for the lights against rain, they liked that area.)
My chicks are all now full grown, and they still will follow me wherever I go or come running when I call them, I developed a call for them when they were babies, everybody I know who raises chicks makes up thier own. But they learn your sounds, if you are repetative, and what each sound means.
I also made it a habit to pick them up by scooping my hand under thier chest so thier legs stuck thru my fingers. by doing this from a young age, they are now easy to catch, and I can 'scoop' even my big cochin Roo with relative ease, (tho he takes some effort!) They understand what I am doing, and rarely raise a fuss about being picked up. I think the scoop method is less frightening to them than a snatch and grab, tho sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do!
When our chicks where still young, they would come out of thier brooder after a long day in the garden, and want to sit in our laps, or shoulders, and we spread towels for them to do that, and they would fly to us to sit and watch tv with us. Then like sleepy kids at christmas, we would put them back in when we went to bed ourselves. To this day, if I sit in the yard, or on the porch, inevitably someone will want to come and sit on my lap! There was no effort involved, just time, nonstartling movements, and consistancy!
Also tho, I have noticed that breeds can effect the likely hood of a lap chicken. Choose a mellow breed. Cochins, RIR's, and Orpingtons are some of our favorites. Polish and crevacoers, as well as other flighty birds dont tend to enjoy the personal attention as much!
Good Luck!
