How long until I win over my chicks?

[Smeamers]

My chicks will be a month old on Monday and they're still afraid of me. I feed them treats from my hand multiple times a day and I try to spend a little time each day picking a few of them up and holding them. I also have 3 young children that I homeschool, and I work part time, so I maybe the time I'm spending with them isn't really all that much, relatively speaking. I was kind of hoping that they'd stop freaking out every time I try to touch them by now. Will they eventually come around, or is there something else I should be doing? They're all BO and SLW.

 

[HorseFeathers]

Really the best thing you can do is hold them ALL THE TIME.

 

[undermywings]

Our chicks are also a month old and run from our attentions. I have always bought chicks in 3's so each of my 3 children could be 1 on 1 with them and they were always so friendly from the attention lavished on them.
But now I have 12 chicks and my kids are adults or nearly adults with other things to do and jobs, etc. My oldest daugher picked out the 'runt' who had a survival problem and was aggressive but now loves to be held, a black sexlink. Sometimes she will scream her head off but if my daughter is wearing long sleeves she likes to hide her head in her elbow and go to sleep.
Another favorite, an ameraucana, is bold and curious and gets a lot of attention, she enjoys going to see new places and enjoys being held.
But not one of them will come to snack out of our hands and all run when we go in the coop. I think just an instinct to run from huge giants invading their home. We will keep up the holding of them and I hope they will come around. Having so many makes them turn to each other rather than us.

 

[KellyHM]

Mine always go through a phase of being afraid of me from about 2 weeks old to 5 or 6 weeks old. Then it's like a switch flips on and they're like "Oh, wait, you bring food and water...we love you!" LOL, be patient and they'll come around.

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

I have ten 9 wk olds who are out in the coop for 3 wks now with the run added last weekend.

I spent a lot of time just talking to my chicks as they grew up. I had them in a HUGE stock tank with hardware cloth on top. When I would open the top they started flying up to the 2 x 6's I kept on top of the stock tank. For those that couldn't quite fly up yet, I would gently scoop up from underneeth - never snatching them up.

I would sit and talk to them for 30 min in the morning before work and then an hour or so after work. When I started feeding them their first snacks at age 3 wks, they LOVED me. OR they loved the meal worms I fed who cares. Gave them free choice grit before the snacks. I would then bring them fresh baby grass, scrambled eggs, finely chopped cabbage, etc.

When I moved them to the coop, I would go out and sit on a stool and talk to them. They would fly up on my lap and around my feet.

I can't go out there now without having all ten surrounding my feet. Makes it hard to walk without stepping on toes but I LOVE it. I sit it their run and just talk to them.

Good luck with yours.

 

[Rusty's Ranch]

I handled my two chicks a lot when they were little and they didn't seem to mind it, but as they got older they became more like teenagers trying to assert their independence.

They follow me around the yard and stay close to me whenever I'm out with them, but they'll run away if I try to pick them up or pet them. They'll only tolerate my affections if they are up on a roost that's at least waist high - I guess I'm not so scary when they're up closer to my face.

I know they love me in their own strange way, but I don't think they'll ever be cuddle babies

 

[GroovyGallus]

I worried about this too when we first got our chicks. It took about 6 weeks and they started coming around. We give them treats and after awhile they started eating out of my hand. By 8 weeks they were running to us whenever we go to the coop. They will sometimes jump in our laps as well now. I think it just takes time. I'd rather they were afraid of big things that could get 'em for a while anyway.

Be patient

 

[bighen]

I was wondering what kind of treats do you give them and at what age do you start feeding them treats?