How often should i hold/play with chicks?

[stormylady]

I guess I should have read the whole post! They maybe just alittle over Zealous about the whole thing, but youve heard the saying " The early bird gets the worm"
I think that might be there policy! LOL About the lump on there belly? are you sure there crops just aren't full of feed, because my chicks when there crops are full they look like they could topple over with all that exta weight up front, The older birds use to look like that when they were little bitty babies, but have grown into there crops and it doesn't stand out as much. But maybe if there is a condition there someone alot more chicken smart than me can answer it better. Sandy

 

[Quella]

hold them as much as possible, unless they start going mad and flapping crazily . . .
But not too long! Meep actually had the guts to poop in my hands...shoulda seen the butt-wiggle coming . . .*mutters darkly*
I don't know about the lump on their bellies, but it probably is the crop, I'm going with stormylady's theory.

 

[nikki24]

I'm sorry but I dont know what a crop is.could you explain please?

 

[mamaKate]

The crop is the little storage bag where they hold the food to grind it up. It's actually more on the chest than the tummy. When they've eaten a full meal, it extends like a balloon.

 

[vortec]

After several hectic days of chasing my australorp roo( 8 weeks ) around the coop, he is showing no signs of growing calm. He literally flung himself into the heat lamp to evade capture yesterday and I am almost to the point of admitting defeat and accepting the fact that he has an appointment with the fridge in 8 to 10 weeks. Is this okay, or will hormones make him a threat in no more time then that?

vortec

 

[wings]

Quote:
I had a roo (Stayin' Alive) that was like that. He had been that way since day 5ish. No matter how much we held him (a lot), he just wouldn't calm down. So I guess sometimes it's just inevitable that they are like that...

 

[hensintheghetto]

Quote:
I think mine have decided that it's fun to poop as soon as I pick them up. None of them have ever pooped on my husband, but every time I pick one up...

 

[Guinea Goonie]

Mama wld game hen will NOT let me touch her chicks.

I can not get into the pen she and her chicks are in without getting the wing, the peck and the scream. She is VERY protetive of her youngin's

 

[3peeps]

Quote:
I've heard game hens make awesome moms, but beware!

Our buff orpington brooded three chicks for us and she was really, really easy to deal with. I handled everyone at least twice a day to bring them out to a portable pen where they would spend the day on the grass.

Over time, the mother became extremely easy to handle. The two female chicks started out pretty screechy, but got better as the weeks went on. They did particularly well if I carried them two at a time, side by side. The male was always pretty skittish.

Another strange thing that worked is if I tipped them on their sides while carrying them. It seemed to relax them quite a bit on the trip back to the brooder box in the garage. They were anywhere from 4-12 weeks at this point. Sometimes I could even carry them with one hand underneath and not worry about them flapping...one female especially. If I turned them upright, though, they'd get upset. Maybe it had more to do with getting back to the nest with mom who was always hollering by that point. Hearing other distressed birds can make them really hard to handle.

Both the females grew up pretty easy to handle. The rooster was not, but he didn't really "stick around."

We have one of the females left now, and I didn't handle her much at all over winter, so she's gotten skittish again. I suspect that spending more time with her would reduce that.

Edit: I take that back...the rooster was not hard to handle, just hard to catch! GRR!

 

[Quella]

Quote:
I think mine have decided that it's fun to poop as soon as I pick them up. None of them have ever pooped on my husband, but every time I pick one up...

Oh. My. Goodness. Chicks and their dark forces ... *imagines tiny chicks squealing "mutiny!!"*
How weird my mind is.
It's like they're waiting for the perfect moment. I swear, mine poop more on the carpet than in the brooder.