How much cuddling is too much??

[TonkaTrucker]

I just picked up two, 2 week old serama mix chicks that I want to socialize and have enjoy coming out and being held, because oh my gosh, adorableness!

I don’t know anything about training chicks... How long is too long? Is it harming the goal to have them out while all the others are peeping across the room? Is there anything I should do to intrigue them, or do I just sit and keep them contained on my lap?

I want them to love me!! But I’m scared I might smother them and have the opposite result. Like kids...

 

[chickenlittle21]

10 minutes 2-3 times a day is the most you should do. When they get older you can hold them more. See if the chick likes to be snuggled or just likes to sit in your lap. Try putting 2 of them together in your lap.

 

[TonkaTrucker]

10 minutes 2-3 times a day is the most you should do. When they get older you can hold them more. See if the chick likes to be snuggled or just likes to sit in your lap. Try putting 2 of them together in your lap.

Thank you! I’ll take them out with my morning coffee and a bit in the evening If I can fit in a lunch time, I will!

 

[Uff Da]

I let my kids hold them however much they want after 2 weeks, as long as they are gentle. They've been carrying around chicks like lapdogs for years now and it's never done any harm. But I've noticed I do way less coddling than other people--I grew up on a farm, so maybe that's it.

 

[TonkaTrucker]

I let my kids hold them however much they want after 2 weeks, as long as they are gentle. They've been carrying around chicks like lapdogs for years now and it's never done any harm. But I've noticed I do way less coddling than other people--I grew up on a farm, so maybe that's it.

We have a few chickens, and I gave up trying to socialize them because there were too many to do them all, and all my favorites were roosters...

These two we’re keeping, roosters or not, so I don’t have to worry about feeling as though my time and attempts are waste

Do you find that your chickens are more friendly with the kids handling them?

 

[Uff Da]

We have a few chickens, and I gave up trying to socialize them because there were too many to do them all, and all my favorites were roosters...

These two we’re keeping, roosters or not, so I don’t have to worry about feeling as though my time and attempts are waste

Do you find that your chickens are more friendly with the kids handling them?

Definitely. Although, I have a breed (Icelandics) that is fairly "wild" even with lots of handling and socialization. They won't come up and snuggle in your lap, but they won't run away screeching if you look their way, like the birds of this breed that don't get handled.

I do have a single sex-link hen from before I began raising Icelandics that I kept because she IS happy to snuggle in your lap.

 

[abpatchy]

they'll love you if you feed them from your hands... especially later giving them meal worms or other yummies.

 

[diamondsilkies]

In my experience, time with people makes friendlier chickens. However, some chickens just have friendlier personalities than others. I do my best to give all my chickens equal cuddle time as chicks, but still end up with some chickens who want to be in my lap at all times and some that prefer to just hang around by my feet.

But even if they don't enjoy being held, the experience of being cuddled still makes a difference. They will sit by my chair and eat out of my hand, they just don't like being touched. Trust has been established between us. So even if you have some chickens who just aren't smothering in their love, know that the handling has made a difference.