Interacting with Hatchlings

[JoPoKa]

I'm just wondering how one would go about getting chicks that were hatched by a hen familiar to you?

I'll be raising my first flock by hand in a brooder so the future "mother" hen would be used to me already. What happens with chicks a hen raises herself? Do the chicks... learn off mama to trust you? Kind of like monkey-see-monkey-do? Or do I have to get in there and chat at them and hold them and whatnot?

What do you all do to get hen-hatched chicks to trust you?

 

[MageofMist]

I'm just wondering how one would go about getting chicks that were hatched by a hen familiar to you?

I'll be raising my first flock by hand in a brooder so the future "mother" hen would be used to me already. What happens with chicks a hen raises herself? Do the chicks... learn off mama to trust you? Kind of like monkey-see-monkey-do? Or do I have to get in there and chat at them and hold them and whatnot?

What do you all do to get hen-hatched chicks to trust you?

I basically co-brooded with my hen when she had chicks, giving them treats, snuggling them, and talking with them. I was also very involved in the brooding process, talking to mama Hen-Hen as I candled her eggs so the chicks knew my voice from even before they hatched. I also helped keep their mean older siblings, who I brooded myself as the hen rejected her first hatched clutch, from bullying them.

I took the eggs as they were hatching under the hen as they were having humidity issues and put them in the Incubator, and after they hatched I set up a brooder before testing to see if the hen would accept them... She rolled the baby under her like an egg! She stopped pecking me after I gave her the babies and instead started preening my hand and trying to roll it under her also as I peeked under her to see how they were doing.

 

[JoPoKa]

I basically co-brooded with my hen when she had chicks, giving them treats, snuggling them, and talking with them. I was also very involved in the brooding process, talking to mama Hen-Hen as I candled her eggs so the chicks knew my voice from even before they hatched. I also helped keep their mean older siblings, who I brooded myself as the hen rejected her first hatched clutch, from bullying them.

I took the eggs as they were hatching under the hen as they were having humidity issues and put them in the Incubator, and after they hatched I set up a brooder before testing to see if the hen would accept them... She rolled the baby under her like an egg! She stopped pecking me after I gave her the babies and instead started preening my hand and trying to roll it under her also as I peeked under her to see how they were doing.

Thanks for the advice and Awwww! that sounds so adorable! What breed was she? Is preening a friendly gesture or just for grooming?

 

[BantyChooks]

Do the chicks... learn off mama to trust you? Kind of like monkey-see-monkey-do?

I've had it happen that way. I've also had the chicks turn into crazy spazzes—same hen, different broods. I didn't do a thing different.

 

[Maeschak]

Whenever I let a hen raise chicks I never see the chicks again! Momma keeps them far from me- I have several chickens now that have never been touched by a human.

 

[Shay1]

I think it depends on how friendly the hen is because I had the first chicks hatched on our farm raised by a shy australorp and one of the chicks ended up being terrified of people. The other two are friendly because I handled the often, while the second batch of chicks were raised by a sweet bantam partridge cochin and the chicks are very friendly. When the chicks were a few weeks old their mother had to be separated from the flock because she had dry fowl pox(mom is fully recovered now) their dad took care of them and their dad doesn't like to be near people and the chicks were still friendly, so I think how friendly the chicks will be depends on how friendly the mama hen is and how much you handle the chicks.
Edit:Also chicks love live mealworms as a treat. Just be prepared to have your hand attacked by chicks

 

[MageofMist]

Thanks for the advice and Awwww! that sounds so adorable! What breed was she? Is preening a friendly gesture or just for grooming?

They are Silkies, which are born to be parents. Considering she never preened me before I gave her the babies, I believe it is a friendly gesture.

Edit:Also chicks love live mealworms as a treat. Just be prepared to have your hand attacked by chicks

I learned that the hard way... Little velociraptors, they are!