I pet my chickens and chicks all the time. I pet my ducks too, whether they like it or not. Being hands on with your chicks now makes it easier when they are adults and you need to handle them for any reason, like an injury, or general maintenance. I cup a chick in my hand so that the feet are supported, and I push a little to get them to sit down. A standing chick is flightier and can fall and hurt themselves, and generally I find I gain a better hold on a sitting chick. Then I rub the top of the head, and I scratch and rub where the comb will come in, and I rub under the chin where the wattles come in. My kids are in 4-H and one of the common preparations before the fair is to rub your bird's comb and wattles, and sometimes legs I think, with vaseline. We were new to it last year and our birds weren't old enough, but I've worked with them all year to get them ready for this year's fair. I rub the comb and wattles, sort of like I'd be massaging it, and most of the birds have learned to tolerate it, and some really like it. My great big Marans rooster has these enormous wattles and a big read comb, and when I hold him I rub them, and he doesn't shake me off like some birds do. I usually grab his wattles gently and kiss the top of his head, and he loves that. I rub the back of the chick's neck too and get them used to me touching and stretching their wings out so I can check underneath when they are older for signs of parasites, disease, etc. I get them used to me touching their feet too because I have a lot of feather footed birds and so far we've been blessed and not had any parasite problems, but I know it's hard to find those mites under all those feathers. My younger daughter has a gift for "hynotizing" chickens. She can calm them and flip them onto their backs and hold them like babies for an indefinite time period. That comes in handy when I want to check the bird over. If the wings start flapping, gently put your hand over the chick's back to hold them wings against the body. It helps calm them. No matter how much you hold and pet them, some will be more responsive than others. I have some birds that come right to me to be held and petted, and others that no matter how much interaction I've had with them, they still run the other way when I come near them. And you definitely want constant interaction if you have roosters. I have more than I need, lol, but I guarantee, they ALL know I rule the flock and not them. I do not tolerate any aggressive behavior with them, and so far, they have all been respectful. A flogging rooster (when it comes flying at you, feet out, spurs ready to gouge) is caught in midair and then shoved under my arm securely like a football, which is quite humilating for the rooster and knocks their hormonal egos down a peg. As chicks, if they start to peck at me, I don't put them down, because that's what they want. I continue to hold them firmly so they can't wriggle fee and fall (just the idea of a baby chick falling and breaking something or damaging internal organs scares the heck out of me!) but I do not speak to them for a few moments, and I do not make eye contact. Then I return to petting and rubbing, and it usually knocks the aggression out of them. They are just testing the waters with you like they would with another rooster, trying to establish dominancy. I started last year with 34 birds, and not a one of them was allowed to get the better of me. I sold or gave away a few that I just didn't like the personalities of, and I traded others mainly cause I just had too many roos. My remaining birds, which was still most of them, are sweet, gentle birds, and I love each and every one of them. They all have names, they all are friendly, even if they aren't snuggly, and I love each and every one of them. I have a bunch in my brooder right now, and even though I have plans to sell the majority of them, I still hold each one (and there's about 40!), and I pet them and give them attention every day. It's not easy, but I do it because I want the people that buy them to get nice birds, not skittish, frightened birds like some I ended up getting in a trade last year. My Marans rooster I got as an 8 week old chick last year and he had never been handled before I picked him out and brought him home. Him and 5 other birds. But as much as he fought it, I handled him every day, and even after he got to be the monsterous boy that he is now, I still hold him and tell him I love him. He has never once pecked me or my kids, and my 10 year old can now just grab him and hug him and kiss him. That's important to me, that my birds are gentle with my kids. If they show aggression, and I can't knock it out of them, they go bye bye. I have a beautiful White Cochin rooster that is being a brat, but I didn't raise him, and got him a bit older, and while he doesn't DARE flog me, he pecks at all the other birds to the point of hurting them badly, and has caused more cock fights than all my other roosters put together. And if he gets the chance, he pecks my kids. He got my younger daughter in the foot earlier today. She yelped and he looked triumphant, until he saw me coming, then he took off like his pants were on fire and didn't come near my daughter again. My kids have learned the football hold, and they got flogged only once or twice at the beginning of Spring when hormones were at their highest. A few times in the football hold though, and they haven't even tried it since. When the chicks are tiny, I will also tuck them inside a dishtowel and snuggle them to my chest. It seems to enhance the bonding experience and calms them because the towel over their heads feels like when the mama hen is sitting on them, and your heartbeat mimics the mama hen's heartbeat. You'd be surprised how fast a fussy chick will calm down when you do that! I also then fold my hands gently over the top of the towel to mimic a hen's body weight. I can hold 2 dozen chicks or more calmly like that for hours if I had to. I got some yesterday at
TSC, and when I got them home they were frightened, and after I managed to get them to eat and drink, I set the towel on my chest, wrapped the babies up in it, and set it on my chest. Instant quiet. It helped the chicks calm down and get some much needed rest. Course, my room is very warm, so I didn't have to worry about them catching a chill. No one ever wants to be in here anyway, they all say it's too warm! Lol.
Good luck with your new babies. Oh, and when they get older, another good bonding tool is food. You bring the treats, they will love you for it and come running. You should see when I have treats for my standard flock. There is nothing like watching a huge, 12+ lb rooster come flying across the yard at you with 9 hens in tow because you have something delicious for them. It's hilarious! He comes running with wings spread out and flapping, like flapping them will get him to me any faster, lol. Oh man, I just LOVE chickens. You will too. Oh, but watch how close to your face you hold them. They taste test anything to see if it's edible, including your teeth, lips, and eyeballs. Yeah, that hurts...
we do this with all of our chicks, and they have all had good bonds with humans. Some would try to poke their heads out between our fingers like they do with mother hens. when they're in the warm dark, they calm down. sometimes we'd just put them in the pocket of our sweatshirts and cradle them in there
