How much do your chickens love you?

[chick-among-us]

Hi I'm Cyndy~I don't think Any of my chickens now LOVE me... But I had one who did. Her name was Henrietta (she was a scissorbeak chicken) Her beak began to cross when she was little and she was cooped with all the others. My coop is out in my pasture near the barn. I could stand on my front porch and call her name and she would come running Literally

and would come running up on the porch cooing the whole time...I raised her from a tiny chick in a batch of pullets that we bought from tractor supply. She would ride on your shoulder and my mothers wheelchair, mom would ride her around the porch on her electric chair then henrietta would hop down and be satisfied. We fed her warm mash and a supplement. She never was able to begin laying or anything and seemed to just fade away in the end. I loved her truly and she loved me and would faithfully follow me everywhere with never a hope of treats she couldnt eat,she just did it because she wanted to. In the end we were feeding her with a syringe that worked VERY well she could get all of her food. She lived as long as she was able and is buried in my Garden as are two of our beloved dogs. She was like one, she loved to be petted above anything and loved to be carried. R.i.p Henrietta,mommy misses you. (sounds silly for a chicken,but I cried the day she died and i don't cry over much) I have tons of pics and cant post even one till I am off of newbie status.

I am certainly a chicken addict for sure, but no my others dont act like that one did,she is a tough act to follow. I have NEW babies though just hatched from our broody BO! wootwoot cute little fuzzy butts!

 

[ninabeast]

I would agree with the "it's just the food" theory if it weren't for my chickens competing for my lap.

On the few occasions a week that I'll sit on a stool outside the open coop door, they'll push each other off to have my attention and cuddling. I would even chalk this up to the fact that they have no rooster, so I AM the rooster and they are competing for status, but Buffy doesn't just like the chicken butt handshake*, she wants me to scrub her feathers all over, and never walks away. And Pip? Pip hops up onto my lap and presses her head in my chest while I give her a good going over. Head, wattles, ears, nothing is off limits. Also, never tires of it. Maybe because it's cold out and I'm warm?

*chicken butt handshake = http://heedleyshens.wordpress.com/2011/11/13/the-chicken-butt-handshake/

 

[sourland]

Don't faint in the coop. You will discover just how much the little velociraptors 'love' you.

 

[Sjisty]

Quote:
Yup, that's how I keep telling hubby he is going to go. I'm going to knock him out in the back yard and cover him with corn. I figure in 10 minutes, even CIS wouldn't find enough left to identify!

 

[Ole rooster]

Quote:
Yup, that's how I keep telling hubby he is going to go. I'm going to knock him out in the back yard and cover him with corn. I figure in 10 minutes, even CIS wouldn't find enough left to identify!

Come now, that's nasty. And funny as all get out.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Mine follow me around at times, even though I don't have food with me. They also will come sit in my lap or perch on my leg, if I allow it. Otherwise, they also like to hang out next to my chair or under my chair, when resting. They like to sit with my husband, too. Sometimes they sit in his chair, if he's not there, while I sit in mine. Unless the dog's in it already. If I'm not around, they'd usually prefer resting under a shrub, instead of on the concrete. They have nice little vocalizations when you greet them, too.

The majority of the time, they're off doing their chicken things. Lots of foraging, a little dust bathing, trying to see what's going on in the neighbors yard across the road, napping, whatever. It's really a lot like my dogs. My dogs like to greet me and spend time with me, but they have all their own dog activities out on the property, too.

Do they love food? Sure. Is there a lot of "pantry love" at times? Sure. There is with my dogs, too. I don't begrudge them that. My husband really loves my cooking and my baked goods. I don't hold that against him, either.

 

[off-grid hen]

Short answer: they don't!

 

[the3ofus+oursixchicks]

this is how much my chicken loves me

 

[kareninthesun]

they don't LOVE me, but are creatures of habits; once I'm outside, we have a routine: they stampede to see if I have anything resembling food. Because they are optimists, even if I don't have food, they check out whatever is attached to me seeking the truth. Once that is done, the layers still stick around waiting to be scratched (commenting as chickens do) then watch as I move on to do the same with their hen-mates. None move away until I take the first step away, then they shadow me hoping that I will comply with a few more scratches and eye contact for talking. I would swear on a Bible that sometimes when I am talking to them, they watch me carefully, eye contact to eye contact. The pullets whom haven't started laying yet sometimes follow around as I make physical contact with the others, but scoot right out of reach in terror if I try to do the same to them. Kinda like taking a child to the ocean for the first time. Part of them wants to join in, but it seems scary!

 

[Lollipop]

the3ofus+oursixchicks :

this is how much my chicken loves me https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/87967_church_program_2011_035.jpg

She looks like she`s sizing up the distance to that glint in your eyeball.......Pop​