Question on handling/socializing chicks.

[Critter Crazed]

Hi, I have 9 silkie chicks and 1 unknown breed. They're three weeks old and aren't very tame.. So I figured I'd try to tempt them with some yogurt. It just isn't working. They hate me! Except for one, the unknown breed.

My problem is that I'm a newbie. I have no idea what I'm doing. I don't want to have chickens that hate people and I don't want to have to chase them down. I would like for them to be friendly.. They are completely pet chickens. Just pets.
I don't want to do anything to hurt these chicks or make them unfriendly. Can anyone tell me if what I am doing is wrong? Or right??

I am currently using this technique to tame them:
I got them addicted to yogurt mixed with chick starter. They loved it! I put a little on my fingers and stick it in the brooder and they go crazy and eat it all in a second. Now I no longer feed them yogurt when they are in the brooder. I take them out and have them perch on my hand and THEN they get the yogurt. I figure that if they associate being handled with treats then maybe they'd want to be handled?

They all freak out when I try to pick them up. Even the friendly one. How on earth are you supposed to pick up a baby chick? I don't want to cause any trauma. I just want friendly chickens.

Thanks in advance.

 

[popcornpuppy]

The food and treats sounds like a good start. Maybe you could try to give them some other kind of treat to entice them, as well. I use bugs for my skitish Leghorns. They are only 1 and 1/2 weeks old, so I am working with them as much as posible to keep them from growing into skitish adults. When I have a moth or beatle from the back yard, I just put it in my hand, put my hand into the brooder and they all come running. They have learned that hand = food. Some will jump onto my hand to get whatever I have to offer, then I lift them out of the brooder and hold them. Sometimes I trick them and just put my hand in with nothing in it, just to see if they will jump on it out of curiousity. Then, I leave my hand in the box for a few moments to get them used to it.

 

[cmom]

Treats. Just like a way to a man's heart is through his stomach. It's the same for chickens.