How often do you hold your chicks or chickens to make them love it?

[TT4059]

I want to know how often you hold baby chicks or chickens to make them love it? I have been trying to hold my 5 chicks every day. Any tips on how to make them more holdable would be great! 4 of the 5 are Silkie chicks. Should I bathe them? If so how often? Should I also bathe the 5th chick? It is a Lafleche/black mottled d’uccle cross.
They are 3 weeks old now.

 

[Vickischics]

I have 5 few day old chicks with a first time broody hen. I only pick them up to do a body inspection daily in the evening.
Otherwise, I do not handle them until they are feathered out.
I wash my hands, handle them, change my shirt and wash my hands again.
Thats it.
I have two established flocks that I'm careful not to cross contaminate just "in case".

 

[Iluveggers]

I started with my babies on the first day, offering wet mash in my hands. By day 3, when the trap door opened they would jump in my hands & arms to get to the food! I can pick up all but 3 of the 15 by reaching in from up top, but all will come & get food from my hand if offered. I think part of it is personality, as there are a few that jump up to be held, some I can pick up without a fight although won’t jump up to me unless I have food, and the last 3 that sqwak bloody murder if I hold them (although they eventually calm down, I don’t force the holding for a long time.) My shortest goal is to be able to handle all of them if necessary. My biggest goal is to have a flock of cuddles. I’ll settle for somewhere between the two.
If I could do it again I would probably wear them in a scarf or pocket, one or two at a time when they are just a few days old. They will snuggle when they are brand new. I WOULD NOT do this if they were hatched by a broody.

 

[K0k0shka]

Handle them often and a lot, starting right after hatch/purchase, if you want cuddly chicks. I hatched a batch last year and one this year, handled them often and a lot, and they love me. Even my young kids can pick them up and carry them around, and the chickens don’t mind (both generations). I also had some broody-hatched chicks. I let mama do her thing and didn’t handle them much, and they wanted nothing to do with me (even though mama is one of my lap chickens and tried to lure them into my lap with her, to no avail).

 

[yakitori]

Why do you need to bathe them?

My chicks are handled whenever I want, broody chicks, incubator chicks... I don’t really feed them from my hands, so they will stay on my hand to preen themselves and rest, but will want off once they are bored

I do have a satin that will sit in my lap forever, but I honestly don’t know how she got that way...

The d’uccle/d’uccle mixes I have right now have been the sweetest chicken ever. Just very very gentle souls...

 

[K0k0shka]

P.S. Don’t bathe chickens unless they are so filthy that nothing else helps.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

All of my birds that have been raised from chicks with me are tame, but only 2 are what I would call "lap chickens" and enjoy being pet. A lot of it has to do with individual birds personalities.
I always move and speak calmly to them.
They were all handled frequently as chicks.
It really isn't anything that can be forced IMO.

 

[3KillerBs]

I want to know how often you hold baby chicks or chickens to make them love it? I have been trying to hold my 5 chicks every day. Any tips on how to make them more holdable would be great! 4 of the 5 are Silkie chicks. Should I bathe them? If so how often? Should I also bathe the 5th chick? It is a Lafleche/black mottled d’uccle cross.
They are 3 weeks old now.

Most chickens do not like to be picked up and held. They are prey animals and to their minds it's more like being in the jaws of a predator than being carried/cuddled by a mother.

But getting them accustomed to being handled without freaking out is, nonetheless, a good idea. Most of mine will eat weeds from my hands though none are what you'd call "Cuddly". I've only had one chicken that actually wanted to be picked up and carried around -- back in my in-town flock.

There are VERY few times when a chicken should be given a bath. Have you ever heard the phrase "madder than a wet hen"? Chickens aren't fond of water at all.

They do, however, need access to dirt so that they can take dust baths. That's their natural way of removing stale preen oil from their feathers and smothering parasites before they can become established.

 

[BantammChick]

I want to know how often you hold baby chicks or chickens to make them love it? I have been trying to hold my 5 chicks every day. Any tips on how to make them more holdable would be great! 4 of the 5 are Silkie chicks. Should I bathe them? If so how often? Should I also bathe the 5th chick? It is a Lafleche/black mottled d’uccle cross.
They are 3 weeks old now.

It helps if you handle them everyday after you get them. When my 4-month old flock were babies, I handled them every day to clean out their box, and now they're super friendly- they even jump on my head when I go out in their coop lol.

 

[yakitori]

It helps if you handle them everyday after you get them. When my 4-month old flock were babies, I handled them every day to clean out their box, and now they're super friendly- they even jump on my head when I go out in their coop lol.

that sounds painful