North Carolina

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He may struggle & squack for a min or two...then will calm down. My kids can reach down a scoop any of our roosters up and carry them around. From the tiniest bantam to the biggest large fowl. Some are bigger then my DDs body.

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The best way to tame a new chicken is with dried mealworms. I get mine from Lowe's. It is with the wild bird food in the lawn and garden department. It’s much cheaper than Happy Hens Treats. I pay $6.99 for a 6oz box versus to Happy Hens Treats that are $9.99 for a 3.5oz bag (big difference). The chickens go crazy for the mealworms. I use it to train my chickens. Some chickens will take few times to get the taste for it, but once they do, you can get even the shyest one to jump in your lap for the treats and bite your fingers.
 
My children and I believe in the Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck method from the Snowman episode: "I will hold him and hug him and I will call him 'George'....." Our roosters use the "limp noodle" defense in return. If they go limp and floppy enough, the kids will put them down. My brother (their Uncle Josh) taught them to say, "Somebody needs a HUG!" Josh's chickens scatter when he says it, lol.

When I bought my breeder quality Ameracuana boys at a chicken swap, I was worried about how they would react to my children. That was in between me watching them in the rearview mirror as they tried to fly on the air entering the camper shell through the front window. My son picked up the cockeral we named Nugget. Nugget rolled his eyes as if to say, "Oh great, another kid!" Needless to say I was very happy with my purchase. Recently I spoke to the lady that raised them. She has a son younger than mine and lots of children that visit. She was also happy to hear that chickens she raised were behaving well.

I tell people to think about training a dog. If you left a puppy in a cage and only threw food at it once a day, it would be an unhappy, mean dog. Chickens don't have quite the same social needs as a dog, but they need time with us to learn what we would like them to do.
Back off when I come in the gate with your food.
Make noise when something is wrong.
Behave while I'm picking up eggs. Or cleaning up your yard.
Don't get between my feet while I'm trying to put your feed down.

Here's hoping some of this will help!
 
Well, after several ineffective attempts to catch the little bugger for hug therapy (our version of Uncle Joshs call sign!) when I grew a few brain cells and decided to wait for bed time when Haiku (DDs name for JB, I call him Pretty Boy) is at his calmest and most relaxed. When time came, I reached right in and petted and talked to him for several minutes. Which was about how long incould stand being a blood donor for this years super mosquito breed. He let me hold him, no problem, and even closed his eyes for most of it.
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Quote:
The best way to tame a new chicken is with dried mealworms. I get mine from Lowe's. It is with the wild bird food in the lawn and garden department. It’s much cheaper than Happy Hens Treats. I pay $6.99 for a 6oz box versus to Happy Hens Treats that are $9.99 for a 3.5oz bag (big difference). The chickens go crazy for the mealworms. I use it to train my chickens. Some chickens will take few times to get the taste for it, but once they do, you can get even the shyest one to jump in your lap for the treats and bite your fingers.

I found a bag, no oz marking, for $5.99 at TSC. Unfortunately he is such a good roo, he doesn't eat treats until all the hens are done and happy.
 

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