question-can i touch them?

[YoungChickenFan93]

This kid in my class keeps saying that the chicks are going to die because we hold and touch them. He says that we are not supposed to touch them-is this true? are we not supposed to touch the chicks for a period of time after they hatch? Please help!

 

[chkinut]

i think he's getting confused with wild birds. maybe his mother told him not to touch baby birds cuz they could die due to their mothers rejecting them....??? i don't know, just a guess about the kid. in my experience with chicks....i touched them, held them, put them on my lap etc...and it helps the chicks become tame, people friendly birds.

 

[scubaforlife]

Yes you can handle them, just be very nice and be very gentle. I pick my little ones up to inspect them and to bond with them a bit. My children like to hold them, I have had the scouts over and they all handle them. Just take care, be slow, let them come to you.

 

[lleighmay]

I handle mine (briefly at first) several times daily from the day I get them. Perhaps his edict stems from parents telling their kids not to touch baby birds or their mother will abandon them and they will die (not a bad idea for younger kids to have to keep them from messing with nests they find). You'll want to keep their handling VERY controlled (especially depending on the age of the kids in your class) due to their natural fragility but as they get older and kids get more responsible they can handle them more and more. My 5 yr. old niece handles my chicks (including new ones) very carefully under supervised conditions and has been doing this for a couple of years. I would say the main thing is not to let them get chilled away from the heat and not to let them be passed around the room to lessen the possibility of accidents. Good for you for showing others the cycle of life!!!

 

[happyhensny]

My kids, ages 12, 10 and 7, touch, hold, lay on the sofa with a chick in their neck to watch shows, etc. Alot! They become much more people friendly if you interact positively with them. Have fun!

 

[gumpsgirl]

That's an old farmers tale.

My dad told me the same thing when we got our first chicks, but I soon learned that he was very wrong. Let the kids hold and touch those babies! The only thing that would hurt the chicks is if they were dropped, which does need to be monitored. They are fast little buggers and can leap from hands quite quickly. The best bet for holding the chicks would be for the kids to sit down with them. Other than the dropping, there is nothing to worry about.

 

[Legs]

This sounds like a wives tale. When I was young my parents told me not to touch the kittens or they would die. What they REALLY wanted out of me was to not mess with them at all. Ofcourse I did not want 'kill' anything so I left them alone. The younger the child the more apt they are to drop or squeeze too much, thus possibly killing such wee little creatures. Make sense?

 

[Penturner]

The chicks will not be rejected because they are held. But they do need to be able to rest, explore on their own and eat, a lot of eating. and most important they must stay warm. so handling them can cause some problems so don't do to much of it but it has nothing to do with being touched, not even for wild birds. Most of the don't touch it will make them sick or kill them advice is more about trying to keep small children from loving babies to death than it is a problem for the animals. Cats do not abandon kittens, birds do not leave the nest if it is disturbed and puppies do not get sick from being held to long. I had an orphaned great dane that I had to hand feed from the age of 4 weeks. I carried him in my pocket with me all day long and he was seldom out of my pocket or my hands for about 2 weeks solid. he never once got sick. He was the most devoted dog I ever owned though. Sadly he only lived four years and died of a heart problem.

 

[Chickiemama1010]

wild birds can carry parasites, ticks, etc. its not a good idea to touch them, however if you find a baby WILD bird fallen from the nest you can put it back in the nest if you can reach the nest. The mother will not reject it just b/c it was touched by a human. However mother birds will push out very young babies if they are ill as to not infect the rest of the babies. If she pushed it out because it was not healthy, she will do it again if you put it back and it is sick. Its not cuz you touched it, but cuz its not healthy to begin with. They also push out older babies to encourage them to learn to fly. I have put a baby robin back into a nest and it was welcomed back by the mother. She cant pick it up on her own, so I believe she appreciated the help. I have also done it for the swallows that nest in our barn every year. They are not rejected unless the mom knew it was not healthy to begin with.


Go ahead and handle the chicks. Just be gentle and kind, as others have said. They need to know humans are not going to hurt them, so they are friendlier and less aggressive as adult poultry.

 

[melissa09]

We have 21 chicks. 10 RIR and 11 buff orpingtons. My 10 yr old daughter has cp and is in a wheel chair and i was letting her pet one of the chicks yesterday and the little bugger took flight and went back to its brooder. She thought it was funny and I was grateful that is did not hit the floor. I have two other children that are 9 and 7. they also handle the babies. we want them to be people friendly.
We had some chickens before that where not so people friendly... so yes you can touch and hold them