How to make chicks cuddly and pettable? Feeling discouraged...

[Ascholten]

10 years old and still alive? That's awesome.
I have one that is about 5 yo, she quit laying earlier this year. She laid a few soft shelled / shell less ones, then just stopped laying. She has all the nutrients, vitamins, calcium etc she could need. The others who eat the same thing are just fine. I think she's a RIR but rather small, ..so it's probably close to her time I was told. she's still active, sweet and gets around, but a bit more laid back and not so 'picky' towards the other girls now. I don't care if she never gives me another egg, she's going to be kept healthy till the day she decides to leave.

FWIW, yes I did check 'up in there' to make sure there was nothing broken or any bad problems causing her issues, and there is nothing that I can tell is seriously wrong, ie no infections, impactions etc etc. I think she's just past her egg laying time. Kind of miss the huge eggs, but even last season when she did lay,the eggs had issues, they were absolutely huge but banded, like two were welded together at a seam down the middle. She never shown any signs of distress so i never pursued it past that.

Aaron

 

[TXKukupantsKoop]

My 10 RIRs are in the teenage phase. They were super cuddly until recently. I can hold about half of them still and only pet the other half. Now that the idea of being prey has set in, I definitely approach them differently. Always from the bottom. Some will walk into my hand and I can pick them up, hold them against my chest and pet them for a bit. I never force it.

I started handling them after the first wk that they were in the brooder. Never an issue. They trust me now and that was my goal. I love that they are curious and follow me around. They still will roost all over me if I'm sitting in the run. ❤

 

[pinkpickledeggs]

Hello guys! I'm wondering what are your methods to get a chick to be more friendlier, cuddlier and pettable.

I know chickens are food motivated, but I have no success in having them eat any treats. I tried mealworms, wetting their starter food, scrambled eggs, and boiled egg yolks, but they always ignore it.

My first batch of chicks were are a disaster since it was my first time raising chicks and I made a lot of mistakes thus making them super skittish. I was determined to make things right with my second batch of chicks. The second batch consists of 3 chicks that are a little less than 3 weeks old now and their breeds are a Lavender Orpington, Barnevelder, and a Blue Americauna. The most outgoing and curious of the trio is the Orpington.

I made sure to use a brooder that allowed me to reach for them from a ground level and the sides are open mesh so they can see me when I approach. I spend 30mins everyday sitting on the ground and hanging out with them, manually dropping their feed so that they know my hand isn't a threat, making the same clucking sound when I visit and feed them, and petting their wings and crop when their busy eating. Hand feeding them their starter feed is iffy currently. Anything that requires me to reach from above and possibly scare them like cleaning their brooder I always do at night in darkness since they won't be able to see me or anything for that matter.

While they're happy to see me when I'm visiting them and would come up to me, they would back away if I try to pet them anywhere when their NOT busy eating. Whenever I pick them up, they always scream and try to wriggle out. It makes me worried that the small shred of trust that I cultivated with them is shattered whenever I attempt to grab them.

Do I forcefully hold them on my lap until they stop screaming and wriggling away? How do you make your chicks interested in eating treats? What other things did you do to get your chicks to be cuddly and pettable? Does this get any better or am I doomed to have chickens that never want to be held/pet?

It makes me discouraged because I feel like everything I'm doing is wrong and that all this extra effort is worthless.

I’m working on this myself with my new batch of chicks, and it sounds like you are doing a really good job!! I think it just takes time. I’ve tried tempting them with the most delicious and succulent of treats, and they still act like they’ve never seen me before. Don’t be too hard on yourself - I am sure your conscious effort will pay off!

 

[KCChickenMomma]

I started out by letting them walk on my hand but I took it a step further. I sit or lay down and I put them on my chest. I let them walk on me and get used to me that way. I've got one that absolutely hates being held but I can't go outside without her jumping on my back/shoulder and enjoying a free ride around the yard. Another one jumps in my lap for pets and cuddles. I also have guineas and idk if you're familiar with guineas but they're pretty wild. Freak out city when you grab them. So much worse than with chicks. I did the same thing and as adults several of then let me pick them up and sit with then on my lap. One of them wants me to hold and cuddle her. The key, I found is finding the one that likes it and focusing on that one. If they hear a freak out then they loose trust. It's not just the one that freaked out. This year I built a new brooder. It's got a partition in it for when they're smaller but it's big enough for me to sit inside it. So I do. They climb all over me. I love it.

 

[cluckcluckhens]

10 years old and still alive? That's awesome.
I have one that is about 5 yo, she quit laying earlier this year. She laid a few soft shelled / shell less ones, then just stopped laying. She has all the nutrients, vitamins, calcium etc she could need. The others who eat the same thing are just fine. I think she's a RIR but rather small, ..so it's probably close to her time I was told. she's still active, sweet and gets around, but a bit more laid back and not so 'picky' towards the other girls now. I don't care if she never gives me another egg, she's going to be kept healthy till the day she decides to leave.

FWIW, yes I did check 'up in there' to make sure there was nothing broken or any bad problems causing her issues, and there is nothing that I can tell is seriously wrong, ie no infections, impactions etc etc. I think she's just past her egg laying time. Kind of miss the huge eggs, but even last season when she did lay,the eggs had issues, they were absolutely huge but banded, like two were welded together at a seam down the middle. She never shown any signs of distress so i never pursued it past that.

Aaron

My senior quit laying in 2019 then we picked up some chicks. When the chicks got to the point of laying she came out of retirement and starting laying again. She continues to lay every year now since then. We have three generations of Hens now. In my opinion my GLW was the easiest to hold. The worst is our Australorp Hens. They like to peck allot.

 

[Ascholten]

I also have kind of a cheat code too. When mine were relatively new to me. Id buy them at at 8 weeks or so. Id let them out, and while they were still in the apprehensive mode, Id come out with the Rottentoo on my shoulder sit down in a chair and let him to commence in his full on attention whoring routine. I mean were talking wings splayed all over, sometimes on his back with wings out getting tummy rubbed. Butt rub, neck scritches and you must pick up under the wings and give arm-wingpit tickles too or it's just NOT complete. Then he'd lay there in total bliss as I scritched his head and neck. Yep they'd see this and next day, I got a chicken in hand, much to a cockatoo's dismay !

At times I even had Cardinals and Mockingbirds that I could get to come down out of the trees and eat snacks from my hands. The cardinal was tame to the point where I could lightly pet him, but still flighty, not totally gomers like the terrible too was The mocking bird may put up with a slight thumb stroke across the chest, but then HE would yap with the cockatoo and those two would start at it with each other. Funny / Adorable / and wanting to strangle BOTH of them.... depending on what time of day they started in at

Yes, snuggles CAN be contagious! but in a good way !

Aaron

 

[Pampered chicken girl]

I started taming when they were 1 week old and they are the nicest babies in my flock they will jump on my lap and sleep In my arms . all I did was pick them up every day at first for 10 seconds then when they were comfortable with that 15 after that 20 and so on and so on I also started before I would pick them up just putting my hand in their brooder with the favorite treats they would come over take the treats for my hand and once they were comfortable with that I started the picking up process.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I've only had a couple of chickens who were so tame as to sit in my lap. They only became that way when they were teenagers (5-8 weeks old) and I only had 6 chickens. I would sit on the ground or in a chair in their area for quite a while every night. I sometimes had treats, but not always. Mealworms are their favorite. I would let them fly up on my leg, shoulder, or even my head sometimes. I feel like it was just a matter of spending enough time with them that they feel you are part of the flock.

Now that they are much older (4 yrs old) and I have a rather large flock (50+ chickens), they don't come sit in my lap anymore or really even allow me to pet them unless I take them off the roost, but they will follow me around or even come when I call. All my chickens are constantly underfoot when its feeding time. They know I bring treats frequently so they are always trying to see what I've got in my hands, bowl, or bucket.

 

[NinjaGamer2022]

So true! I have to shuffle along like an old woman so I don’t step on anyone!

Same.

 

[NinjaGamer2022]

I started taming when they were 1 week old and they are the nicest babies in my flock they will jump on my lap and sleep In my arms . all I did was pick them up every day at first for 10 seconds then when they were comfortable with that 15 after that 20 and so on and so on I also started before I would pick them up just putting my hand in their brooder with the favorite treats they would come over take the treats for my hand and once they were comfortable with that I started the picking up process.

I did similarly to you and got practically the same results. I handled mine as much as I realistically could and most (definitely not all) like or love to be held or perch on my arm.