Playing with chicks

[ChickaD]

Yeah, it can get a little bizarre eating a sandwich (or anything!!!!) outdoors with a bunch of eager feathered mooches around - wish I could see a "funniest Home Video" version of your recent mugging!

I just wish they would go a little easy on the freckles!

 

[the simple life]

I play with all of my chicks a couple of times a day.
I take them out after I get the kids off to school, I let them all out of the brooder to run around and I pick up individual chicks to hold and stroke.

If I am busy and I haven't been able to spend as much time with them during the day I will tell one of my children to go play with the chicks.
The kids usually ask me everyday day if its okay for them to take the chicks out of the brooder so they get handled enough.
I have always done this with each group of chickens, and it seems to me it doesn't make a whole lot of difference in the end when they are older.
They are either going to be flighty or standoffish or not.
I have hens that will only come near me if they want something and then I have lovebugs that won't leave me alone.
They were all treated the same from day one.

 

[Jarhead]

Our 10 chicks are now just over 3 weeks old. The one I never expected to be the friendliest has become just that. A white leghorn, every time I open the brooder she will jump/fly onto me an nuzzle up under my chin. When I am holding another chick, she stands at the door to the brooder and paces back and forth and just cries.

When they are out in the run, she likes to sit on my foot and ride around while I am in there. I have always read that the leghorns are supposed to be flighty and standoffish, this one is not at all. The other white leghorn chick we have is the total polar opposite of this one, she runs away, and acts like I am the devil. The next friendliest chick we have now I would say is our Australorp, followed closely by 4 out of our 5 EEs (one is just a watcher and would rather keep her distance). The least friendly is still the Black Star, that chick hates people - period! It is the screechiest, and freaks out every time I hold her, or even try to pick her up. All the others at least tolerate being held, and some seem to generally like it. We try to handle them all equally still, hoping that eventually they will all come to enjoy human contact. It may seem sort of wrong, but the 3 or 4 that don't calm down and tolerate being held by the time they are of a reasonable size, we are seriously considering culling and dropping into some buttermilk for the fry pan

We really want to be able to handle all the birds when they are adults at least to do routine health/welfare checks, and for those that want it a little love.

 

[Shogun99]

Scot,

I hear you on the Black Stars. I don't have any of them that are really very FRIENDLY and the Leghorn that I do have is barely any better than the stars.

We shall see what happens though. The other goldie that I have is the friendliest and has probably had the most human interaction. But if I take him out of the run, he runs around eating food and then will come up and jump on me if I'm sitting in the grass just wanting attention. The others might follow (as he is a leader in the group) but they won't get near me like he will.

My B.S.'s that won't lay well when they get older are turning into soup....I've decided. If the leghorn doesn't settle down, he'll enter chick therapy, and if my eggs in the 'bator are just as human finnicky, well they might end up in the pot too.

Friggin personality driven chickens.

Ryan

 

[the simple life]

My black stars have always been the hardest to handle. I even tried to give them away, nothing.
I got to the point that I couldn't stand them, they were like the backyard bullies.
They run in a gang and I call them the Black Biddy Gang.
I should get them leather jackets, the little thugs!
Strange thing, now they are coming up to me in the yard and letting me pet them. My son noticed it too.
I am wondering if its because they are getting ready to lay and they calm down or something? Mine are 19 weeks, they will come over to me in the yard and when I pet then they squat, which I hear is a sign they are ready to lay.
All I know is they are alot more approachable now.
They even stopped harassing my poor pullets out in they yard, I don't have to monitor their attacks anymore.
I wonder if yours will calm down too. Who knows.

 

[ChickaD]

I'll bet your Black Biddy Gang read your post and figured they'd better shape up or they might be "going for a ride"!

 

[americana-chick]

1.) How often do you interact with your chicks? Daily.
A LOT!!!

2.) How long do you hold and cuddle each individual chick?
depends....

3.) Do you play with each chick every "session"?
yep! they all love me because of it

4.) Do you favor 1 or more chicks over the others?
no not really in my second hatch of this year because i only have 3 and they are all nice and loving. but my first hatch of this year i kinda favored my ameraucana/EE girl Cluckers and i favored the banty porcelain d'uccles as well

 

[Jarhead]

I really hope my Black Star calms down, it is a pretty chick IMO. It is physically smaller than the rest, but is noticeably heavier. Like a little dense rock. It is the Alpha chick in our group, even people who just come over and look at our chicks can tell she is the boss. Since she is so small we say she has a napoleon complex

 

[frogman]

Nope - I do too. I think interacting with them helps socialize them. Slow and gently. I want the to find comfort in me too.

 

[ozark hen]

I handle the ones who want to be handled every time I go into coop-2-3 times a day. I do favor two barred rocks who come to my hand to be cuddled