Petting your birds and loving them

[pengimama]

I have cuddled all of my chickens since day one, and the ex batt hen from the day she got in my home. Mine will jump on my lap just for a little scratch and a cuddle then run off to play. Yeah, they will come for treats but I honestly don't think they love me just for the food

If I am sitting outside, they will lay by my feet. Now if I am outside eating, I wont lie they will attempt to steal it and stand on my head if they have to in order to get it. But their sit down and be near me and their psycho give me that piece of pizza now face are two very different things (No I don't give em pizza, but it was the first food that came to mind).

Also, when I pull in the driveway, they are all watching me. They are free fed and their feeder is full and not hungry at the time I get home, hopefully. I go out, say a few words and go in to fill my own belly. Pengi crows until I go sick back outside and everyone is happy until dark. I just can't see that as a "you feed me so I love you" relationship.

 

[navasima]

Whether it's just tolerance or real affection...we're happy - they're not unhappy - it's all good!!

During a couple of decades of working with dogs and cats, I came to the conclusion that as long as everyone ( ncluding the human owner) is safe, healthy and happy (in that order), whatever rules or behaviors you choose for your home/pack/flock are correct for you. People come out of the woodwork to tell new pet owners what "must" be done. Your world is your own - make it right for you!

 

[spacecowgirl]

Quote:
I simply don't believe this. Some chickens, yeah, they just want the food. Other chickens, well, they generally enjoy and trust the humans who have given them so much love and attention.

I think I have a lap bird in the making. She's 7 weeks old now, and even when I bring treats down to them, while everyone else is chowing down, she (I hope she's a she) will jump in my lap, lay down, and happily get petted. I really hope she'll stay this way!

So, my point is, even with treats available (that she loves) she often just prefers my lap.

 

[goldeneggtees]

I have both kinds in my flock, my buffs def LOVE being held and cuddled, kissed and pet. And I have one australorp named betty who even though she was raised by a broody loves human company and is the calmest, sweetest bird I have. Besides Mrs. Cuddlesworth of course. Mrs. C knows her name and will come running from wherever she is in the yard when I call her. She fights with the other hens for attention from me. my speckled sussex like me for treats, nothing else, as well as three of the other australorps. if I don't have food, they aren't interested.

 

[lroth217]

Steve,

I don't care what the reason is, I just know that one by one all but 3 of my 9 chicks (all 6 week old pullets now) have started coming to me for attention. Especially if one of the others is getting cuddled!!! They will all come for treats at first, but while the others are eating their treats some come just to fly into my lap or onto my arms. My newest conquest, Louise, one of two RIRs I have, is now not only letting me pet her but lets me cuddle her too. The very first was the Barred Rock and she was less than a week old and there were no such thing as treats then, followed by the White Leghorn and then the two Buff Orpingtons. Those two I KNOW I won over with meal worms, no doubt about that!!! My Golden Laced Wyandotte likes petting only - although she will tolerate it if I hold her but only for a very limited amount of time.

I accept that this may never change along with the possibility that my Buff Laced Polish and my Silver Spangled Hamburg may never see me as anything other than "creature who brings food". But that doesn't mean that I won't reach out my hand to them, call them by name, and look at them adoringly.

That's what makes us "chicken people" different. And that is fine by me. That is also why I am having 10 more shipped to me on 9/12!!!!

My other RIR, Thelma, is coming closer and closer when I hold her "sister" so I figure it's only a matter of time . . . .

 

[Beekissed]

Yes, but the same goes for any baby of any kind. Dogs from puppy mills' crates have a high percentage of nonsociability. Chimpanzee, dog and human studies for the past 50 years have demonstrated social isolation effectively and routinely results in nonsocial behavior.

What seems to be the confusion here is that chicks raised by a broody are not suffering from social isolation. When they no longer need nurturing and finally separate from their mothers, they are still in a social group of chickens. They don't display nonsocial behavior to their species,merely to you~who is decidedly NOT of their social group.

Chickens, dogs, cats...well, just about any animal that live in pairs or groups will have their own social behavior within their group. Just because they do not wish to cuddle with a human doesn't necessarily mean they were raised without nurturing. They do not require nurturing by humans to be social within their own species.

So, petting your birds and loving them doesn't make them more able to adapt to their own social grouping, it merely makes them more used to you and they grow docile in your presence. This does not by any means indicate a more well-socialized bird...it just means a tame bird around humans. The same bird, if kept isolated from it's own species and living only with humans, can find it to be very difficult to acclimate with their proper social group/species.

Whether you pet or cuddle your animals doesn't necessarily mean you love yours more than others love theirs...it just means that is the way you want to relate to your animals. It also doesn't mean your chickens are better socialized or more well-adjusted...it merely means they are more tame around humans. In my experience, a calm and happy chicken is one that spends the majority of its time developing socially within its own peer group. All my flocks have been quiet and content without any extra interaction from me....I rather like them getting to have their own life within my world, unhindered by my intrusive human presence.

Same with any animal that spends too much time in the house or with only human interaction...they seem to lose that certain something that defines their social standing within their peer group.​

 

[6chickens in St. Charles]

Quote:
What seems to be the confusion here is that chicks raised by a broody are not suffering from social isolation. When they no longer need nurturing and finally separate from their mothers, they are still in a social group of chickens. They don't display nonsocial behavior to their species,merely to you~who is decidedly NOT of their social group.

Same with any animal that spends too much time in the house or with only human interaction...they seem to lose that certain something that defines their social standing within their peer group.

You make an interesting point about interaction. Above picture of a teenroo who was raised lovingly by his actual mother hen with his actual pullet sister, then was mostly rejected by the flock of chickens when he reached maturity. Even as a new chick he sought lap time and attention from us; as he got older he made lots of eye contact and adored picture books which he'd add sound effects to when we read them aloud. At the time this youngest son was struggling to read. Perhaps the teenroo and the young boy struggled together? Or maybe the teenroo noticed all the attention given the young reader and wanted attention too? Or was he just participating in the family dynamic, of encouraging the young boy to read, as we all did? To the teenroo, a picture book meant somebody with a lap was going to be reading aloud, and teenroo was always in on it. There was never any treat or food involved.



This one is the largest bird in our flock, is completely accepted by all the chickens but seeks lap time anyways. In the above pic she is putting up with "back of the chair" time as my lap is hardly existent anymore. When she makes eye contact, its one eye at a time, sideways, but she seeks it just the same. Her laptime is somewhat troubling to the humans, as she falls asleep and sometimes falls off if the lap owner fails to keep holding her up there or propping their leg, which gets tiring. She is also fond of watching TV. (one eye at a time, turning her head sideways). She also is jealous of any younger chickens being held, will peck them off and then lavish broody-type affection to the lap owner, fluffing the clothes, laying her chin across the arm, holding up a wing for pets in the soft underside...... It always cracked me up to see her face in my kitchen window on her stretched up neck, "Oh there you are, can I come in?".

Its a learning process for me, this thing with chickens in my life. I'm just accepting it as it comes. I had no idea they were social animals, until they got social with me.

Interesting, isn't it?

 

[the3ofus+oursixchicks]

to bolton chickenl. i dont believe that. look at some of the pic. like the one of the little boy with the book. i doubt the chicken is wanting to eat the book. i have to disagree. my hens hop up in my lap and lay their heads on my shoulder to rest. i hear them take a deep breath and rest. we love them and they love us!!!

 

[LisaAnnW]

Your household looks like mine! Love it, thanks for sharing.

6chickens in St. Charles :

Quote:
What seems to be the confusion here is that chicks raised by a broody are not suffering from social isolation. When they no longer need nurturing and finally separate from their mothers, they are still in a social group of chickens. They don't display nonsocial behavior to their species,merely to you~who is decidedly NOT of their social group.

Same with any animal that spends too much time in the house or with only human interaction...they seem to lose that certain something that defines their social standing within their peer group.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/25976_09012009232.jpg

You make an interesting point about interaction. Above picture of a teenroo who was raised lovingly by his actual mother hen with his actual pullet sister, then was mostly rejected by the flock of chickens when he reached maturity. Even as a new chick he sought lap time and attention from us; as he got older he made lots of eye contact and adored picture books which he'd add sound effects to when we read them aloud. At the time this youngest son was struggling to read. Perhaps the teenroo and the young boy struggled together? Or maybe the teenroo noticed all the attention given the young reader and wanted attention too? Or was he just participating in the family dynamic, of encouraging the young boy to read, as we all did? To the teenroo, a picture book meant somebody with a lap was going to be reading aloud, and teenroo was always in on it. There was never any treat or food involved.

[URL]https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/25976_dscn9602.jpg[/URL]

This one is the largest bird in our flock, is completely accepted by all the chickens but seeks lap time anyways. In the above pic she is putting up with "back of the chair" time as my lap is hardly existent anymore. When she makes eye contact, its one eye at a time, sideways, but she seeks it just the same. Her laptime is somewhat troubling to the humans, as she falls asleep and sometimes falls off if the lap owner fails to keep holding her up there or propping their leg, which gets tiring. She is also fond of watching TV. (one eye at a time, turning her head sideways). She also is jealous of any younger chickens being held, will peck them off and then lavish broody-type affection to the lap owner, fluffing the clothes, laying her chin across the arm, holding up a wing for pets in the soft underside...... It always cracked me up to see her face in my kitchen window on her stretched up neck, "Oh there you are, can I come in?".

Its a learning process for me, this thing with chickens in my life. I'm just accepting it as it comes. I had no idea they were social animals, until they got social with me.

Interesting, isn't it?​

 

[gale65]

I'm in the minority on this board in a lot of ways. I wouldn't have chickens in the house-even babies. Our chickens aren't even near the house. I don't pet my chickens and don't pick them up and frankly, I don't want to. I don't want chickens running up to me (even though they do anyway) or sitting on my shoulder or my lap. I'm a serious germaphobe (diagnosed anxiety disorder) and it took a lot for me just to get up the nerve to have chickens. All I can think of when I see the pictures of people holding chickens, or especially kids holding them, or the pictures of chickens in the house, are the germs. I do enjoy watching them and even being in the pen with them and watching them interact with each other. The kids like petting them but to be honest, our kids aren't really all that interested in them.