how do you properly pick up a chicken?

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
A lot of people flat-out carry them by the legs, so holding them for a few minutes shouldn't affect them.

 

[Sandy16]

LauraG - "I grab them firmly with both hands, on the wings, so they are not flapping around.
I repeat, firmly, cuz if a wing sneaks out you will get wing-slapped in the face and it is humiliating to be beat down by a hen."

So true!!! I've been wing-slapped more times that I care to count. They are sneaky about getting a wing out!

 

[Duoas]

(Sorry, I know this is a month old...)

Best way to catch and pick up a chicken is to have the kids do it (just like the picture by noodleroo).

Relatedly, my wife has finally answered the question, "Why did the chicken cross the road?"
Because they are so stinkin stoopid.

I live on a rural road, but it is fairly well travelled. I also have five acres worth of bugs to eat. So where do some of the more stubborn hens go to get bugs?
That's right: across the road.
We'll wake up in the morning to find them (having escaped again) being honked at by passing motorists.

This morning a white hen managed to cross (again) and so I went out to get her. Halfway to the street I noticed that about seven other hens had also escaped, and were naturally following me. Fortunately the one across the road saw me coming and so while I waited at the side of the road with a gaggle of satelites she crossed over to me as patient motorists kindly waited. When close enough I just stepped over and hung her upside down by the legs, waved, and led the horde back to the house. (I still wonder what the motorists think about seeing the whole thing, LOL.)

So I took her up to the house and had my wife clip her other wing, then took her back to the coop-pen and tossed her in.


Which leads me to my question: why do chickens relax so when held upside down by the legs? As soon as I turned her over so she could flutter down over the fence she went into escape mode (naturally), but before then she was happy and serene.

 

[Camshaft]

I pick my girls up with my hands over their back and wings with the head in front of me. Then I bring her up to my chest and place her head under my armpit. She goes real quiet and limp cause her head is covered. I can clean her and work on her without fuss. You've got to try this cause it sure does work. Looks funny with their rear sticking out of your side. )

 

[jettgirl24]

If you're like me you hold them like this: