How do you get your chicks to follow you? =/

[showjumper_girl2002]

I have 5, 2 week old chicks that I hatched and have handled since day 1. They don't run from me and are very sweet and I thought they imprinted on me but when I take them outside and try to get them follow me to go to different spots in my yard they just ignore me and do there own thing :/ I've read about chickens following their owners around and wonder why mine act imprinted in every way except that? How do you get them to like to come to you and follow you around?

 

[MamaFix3]

Mine follow me around, but it took a year for them to do it. I'm the only one that feeds them and gives them treats and we have lost 5 girls to hawk/fox attacks last spring/summer. We have been present and chased a hawk off already. so I think when they see me its she brings safety and food lol. But it did take a year for them to follow me around the way they do and its only me, they run from my husband and children.

 

[mischke]

It has took me a good 8 weeks of saying the same thing to them. I will call out "chick chicks" and they come. For the past 2 weeks or so when they see me they come all the way across the yard to greet me and follow me around. I would think as long as you are consistent they will get the hang of it soon. Good Luck

 

[15shenyl]

When I got my Faverolles last year, I held them and hand feed them at times. They would come up to me and want to be held, when they went outside, they instantly followed me around. Try hand feeding them treats or sit on the ground with them. Their also be distractions outside for them, so they may have a hard time paying attention to you. It could also be the breed, some breeds are more interactive than others. Like my Faverolles are like dogs, they follow mw around and do everything with me. The new batch of chicks I got last week have 3 different breeds, the EE likes me a little, German one loves so snuggle on my chest, and the Welsummer chick is very active and curious and doesn't hold still in my lap. I would just spend as much time with them as you can and eventually they should follow you around and might sit in your lap.

 

[showjumper_girl2002]

When I got my Faverolles last year, I held them and hand feed them at times. They would come up to me and want to be held, when they went outside, they instantly followed me around. Try hand feeding them treats or sit on the ground with them. Their also be distractions outside for them, so they may have a hard time paying attention to you. It could also be the breed, some breeds are more interactive than others. Like my Faverolles are like dogs, they follow mw around and do everything with me. The new batch of chicks I got last week have 3 different breeds, the EE likes me a little, German one loves so snuggle on my chest, and the Welsummer chick is very active and curious and doesn't hold still in my lap. I would just spend as much time with them as you can and eventually they should follow you around and might sit in your lap.   

They're really sweet and I sit with them every day and they'll all climb in my lap and sleep and use me as a jungle gym to hop around on I have fed them from my hand but only their chick starter. They're only 2 weeks old so I wasn't sure what other treats they could have yet. It also could be the distractions since they're new to going outside I guess. When I have them with me in the house they want more to do with me then when I take them outside lol maybe I just need to let them get the "this is new and exciting" feeling out of their system the more i let them go outside

 

[debid]

Food. Mine ignore me unless they think I might have food and then I can barely walk with them crowding around my feet. They learn by repetition. I use a bell each time I toss something in the run and they come from far and wide at the sound of it. Yours are just babies -- lots of time to teach them tricks. Don't worry that they are getting more independent. Believe me, you wouldn't want to be their hen forever.

 

[15shenyl]

If you take them outside, sit down with them and give them food, mine are suckers for corn. The first time I let mine out, they wanted nothing to do with me, but after a few days they wanted me back. Just give them time and let them figure things out, they are only two weeks, don't give up and pay lots of attention to them.

 

[RJSchaefer]

Food. Mine ignore me unless they think I might have food and then I can barely walk with them crowding around my feet. They learn by repetition. I use a bell each time I toss something in the run and they come from far and wide at the sound of it. Yours are just babies -- lots of time to teach them tricks. Don't worry that they are getting more independent. Believe me, you wouldn't want to be their hen forever.

This. =)

Mine rush me the second I come outside. They want to eat!

It was fun at first. Now it's not so much. Sometimes I need to get things done and can't be tripping over a chicken every 2 steps.

 

[LTygress]

If they haven't imprinted on you now, they won't. It has to be done from the very beginning. And it's tough. They NEED to know you are there for their security, no matter what. But handling them once a day only makes you "nice" not their replacement for a mommy. And when you have more than one chick, they will imprint on each other, because that's who keeps them warm at night while they sleep.

Following you around can be achieved with treats (mealworms, crickets, etc.). My older chickens are very familiar with me turning over objects in the yard (plywood, logs, etc.) so they can get the bugs underneath. They learned that when I call them and say "come on" really quickly, over and over, back-to-back, it means food. But unless they think they are getting food, they are doing their own thing.

The one exception I have is "Chippy". He hatched alone, and has lived alone for the past month - until last night. He was too young to mix with the older chicks, and too old to mix with the younger ones. And no one around me had anymore chicks for sale near his age. So Chippy stayed inside for a month. I took him outside, and he would run to me. If I left him alone - even near the other chicks - he would chirp really loud until he found me.

But yesterday I found a sumatra chick with a foot injury and put her in his cage. They got along well, and I noticed the polish chicks get along with him too. So after dark, I took him out, and put him right in the very center of their sleeping pile. I didn't hear any noise from him aside from the low chatter they were all doing (chicken's version of a whisper). So I left him there and hoped for the best. Went out this morning... and Chippy ran right up to me! I'll probably have to put up with lots of loud chirping today, since I plan to LEAVE him out with the others. As long as he doesn't know where my bedroom window is (I leave it open for the cats to come and go) then I should be fine.

 

[ShellLea]

My first batch is maybe 11 weeks old. They are just now starting to follow me around and will hop up on the chair next to me now. It's always about the food. There were to many of them to handle them enough as little babies. My second batch is a week old and they try to hide under me when I take them out. I can handle each of them more since there's only a dozen. They'll be following you around like puppies in no time. Just keep the treats handy, lol!