How often should I handle chicks that are a few days old?

[ChickNCheery]

I just brought home my new chicks! First time owner here. I've done a TON of research, but now that they're here, I realized I never really got an answer as to how many times a day to handle chicks that are only a few days old. They're 4 days old now. Yesterday, after bringing them home, I checked for pasty butt, introduced them to the water, then the food after a while, and finally to the brooder plate. I didn't really handle them being that because I wanted them to relax and de-stress.

Now on day 2 and beyond of being here, should I handle them just once a day (while checking for pasty butt), or should I try to handle them as much as possible? They are egg layers (Buff Orpingtons), but they will also be our pets, and we have a toddler (who is very good with using just a gentle one-finger pet ). We should have all hens and no roos.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Handle them daily if you want tame birds, but don’t overwhelm them. Chicks are pretty resilient but need their down time too. Once they’re a few weeks old, you can also start taking them on field trips outside if the weather is good to get them more acclimated to the outside world.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I'd do pasty butt checks twice a day for the first week or so - if all's clear, you can reduce frequency then.

 

[Bock-Bock-Bagock]

On day 1 I left them alone. After that I handled them daily. Let them out and run around with me sitting with them. I'd make a warm spot on a towel and sit with my legs crossed and let them chill there.
The real benefit is that those ones are very easy to handle. I can walk over and just pick them up. They do a little squating motion and put their feathers out. I think they are prepping to get mounted by the rooster.
Either way. I can just pick them up and put them in the coop. The ones I got as pullets that did not get handled as chicks are wild. They run away and I got to chase them back to the coop with really long sticks to kind of herd them.
Then if one non handled pullet gets out it's hard to keep the rest in the coop. The ones I handled daily are so easy to just pick up like fruit off a tree.

 

[Finnie]

I would say to handle them as much as possible right from the start. Sure, you don’t want to overwhelm them, so maybe if you see them sleeping, you leave them be and then when they wake up, you play with them. As much as you want.

 

[dearmeghann]

We got our chicks from someone who spoils her newly hatched babies. We thought we would have to gently get them used to us, but within an hour, we had them (literally) eating out of our hands.

Our babies are 2-ish weeks old, and they run to us when we unzip the pen's door. They love to perch on us and treat us like a roosting bar. It's amazing! We got 8-week-old pullets last year because I was stressed about raising baby chicks. I love our older girls, but we never connected with them like we do with the babies. They're impossible to pick up, but they love to be hand-fed, so they don't hate us. Haha!

I hope our littles grow up to be cuddly and hopefully convince the bigs that we're the best lol!