Is it possible to have friendly chicks who were raised by a broody?

[squeakyballs]

I have two silkies who go broody and raise chicks together. Their first batch of chicks are 4 months old now and they are friendly enough (they come running for treats) but they aren't sit-on-your-shoulder-friendly. They won't even let me pet them!

The silkies are sitting on a new batch of eggs now (6 more days!) and I was wondering if there is anything I can do differently to this bunch of chicks to make them a little friendlier?

The silkies themselves aren't especially friendly, but then I got them as adult hens and they were missing half of their feathers. I think they are slowly warming up to me.

 

[suebee]

I've had silkies for many years and mine do not like to be touched. They will sit next to me or right between my feet, but not in my lap.
After your broody hen leaves them around 6-8 weeks, start giving them lots of attention. Treats and sweet talking will get them attracted to you.

 

[elmo]

Routine is the key. Right now I have three broodies raising 14 chicks total. I try to pick up each chick, even if it's just for a few moments, at least once a day. If I skip even a single day, I've noticed they'll be wilder the next day. With regular, daily handling, most of the chicks...not all...accept being held calmly.

It was the same with the chicks I raised artificially last spring. One of them, Martha, always complained when we picked her up.

 

[squeakyballs]

Ohh that makes sense. Each time I picked up a chick it would cry (and cry and cry) so I'd put it down and wait a few days to let it forget the bad experience, then I would try again...