My chicks hate me!!!!!...what am I doing wrong?

[maryrob]

i give my rhode island red girl (thelma) oatmeal (cooked slightly) with sesame seeds and flaxseed -- she loves it and she expects it everyday-- but i change her up a bit with fresh peas and spinach--tried watermelon and she turned her nose up and kicked it out of her pen--- go figure maybe she will change as she gets older
but she is spoiled that is for sure---i pray that she will be a great egg layer when she is ready

 

[Coffee4Me]

How young can the chicks be to start giving them treats?
Would some sand work for grit?
Do I just sprinkle the sand on the floor or is their some container that it should be put in?

 

[True Grit]

I just put the sand in a plastic lid on the floor of the brooder. They will eat it out of my hand easily;I'm just not sure I want to teach them to peck my hand.

 

[4urbanchicks]

Quote:
I agree. My daughter was letting them peck food out of her hand, and it turned into the chicks wanting to peck her every time she went to pick them up. So we stopped this immediately and they seem to be less "pecky" now!

 

[StormyMoon]

I think too it depends on the breed ? maybe or i just had really good luck with my barred rocks.
They are really large now and they still snuggle with my kids, we have never had a problem with any of them pinching the skin while taking a treat. They seem to be extra gentle with us if anything, i have heard them peck the duck over the head before it was a loud crack.
But when we open our hand we make sure our hand is flat I do this every day though and have from the time we brought them home.

I wouldn't do this with a full grown chicken I had never hand fed before.

 

[kla37]

Mealworms!!! The holding every day with mealworms was a surefire way to get them to try to push each other out of my hand whenever I laid it in the brooder to pick them up. I didn't give them a mealworm until they calmed down in my hand, and they all learned that pretty quick!

 

[Chalmen]

My chicks are starting that little phase too. But they LOVE regular plain rolled oats (or quick breakfast oats)!! They eat right from my hand and I bring some to them everday! They are sooo cute!