Raising friendly chicks to chickens (Am I doing this right?)

[Chickole]

Hello! My chicks are 11 days old today. When I call for them they come to me and like to hang out on my hand. I feed them grit and their regular crumbles. They do not like to be picked up. This is all normal right? Is a 45 min hang out in the AM and PM with 15 min mid day enough for them to continue to like being hand fed? They don’t have to be lap chickens but I want them to continue to be friendly.

They used to be okay with being held but a few have had pasty and now they make a fuss when I pick them up. I hope they aren’t associating being held with bath time

 

[Fluffy_Moth_With_Silkies]

Hello! My chicks are 11 days old today. When I call for them they come to me and like to hang out on my hand. I feed them grit and their regular crumbles. They do not like to be picked up. This is all normal right? Is a 45 min hang out in the AM and PM with 15 min mid day enough for them to continue to like being hand fed? They don’t have to be lap chickens but I want them to continue to be friendly.

They used to be okay with being held but a few have had pasty and now they make a fuss when I pick them up. I hope they aren’t associating being held with bath time

Yeah, that's perfectly normal! In fact, they're very friendly towards you. If you pick them up and hold them while feeding them, it might also help.

 

[Chickole]

Yeah, that's perfectly normal! In fact, they're very friendly towards you. If you pick them up and hold them while feeding them, it might also help.

Woo, okay perfect. Thank you I’ll try that! My easter egger started perching on me. I’m excited.

 

[Fluffy_Moth_With_Silkies]

Woo, okay perfect. Thank you I’ll try that! My easter egger started perching on me. I’m excited.

Aww, it's so cute!

 

[K0k0shka]

Don't feed them grit if all they're eating is crumble. Grit is only to digest harder or more fibrous foods. Poultry feed is water soluble and doesn't need grit. At only 11 days old they are still trying to figure out what's food and what isn't, and may eat too much grit thinking it's food, and that's dangerous.

You are doing a great job socializing them - keep it up! And pick them up every day, too, to break any association with bath time. Teaching them to tolerate being picked up is important. It's SO much easier to care for them when they grow up if they let you pick them up! Because sooner or later, you'll need to - whether because they escaped and you need to carry them back to their coop/run, or because they need to be examined/treated for something, etc. I have several generations of chickens and they are all socialized, including to let me pick them up. They don't all enjoy it, and some will complain, but they let me do it and that's what matters. Every once in a while one of my kids will forget to close the door of the run, and I'll find chickens spilling into the backyard and walking towards the street. I don't need a multi-person chase to herd them back into their run. I just walk up to each one, pick her up and carry her back to the run. This alone makes all the work socializing them worth it!

 

[Fluffy_Moth_With_Silkies]

Woo, okay perfect. Thank you I’ll try that! My easter egger started perching on me. I’m excited.

Also, what did you name them?

 

[Chickole]

Don't feed them grit if all they're eating is crumble. Grit is only to digest harder or more fibrous foods. Poultry feed is water soluble and doesn't need grit. At only 11 days old they are still trying to figure out what's food and what isn't, and may eat too much grit thinking it's food, and that's dangerous.

You are doing a great job socializing them - keep it up! And pick them up every day, too, to break any association with bath time. Teaching them to tolerate being picked up is important. It's SO much easier to care for them when they grow up if they let you pick them up! Because sooner or later, you'll need to - whether because they escaped and you need to carry them back to their coop/run, or because they need to be examined/treated for something, etc. I have several generations of chickens and they are all socialized, including to let me pick them up. They don't all enjoy it, and some will complain, but they let me do it and that's what matters. Every once in a while one of my kids will forget to close the door of the run, and I'll find chickens spilling into the backyard and walking towards the street. I don't need a multi-person chase to herd them back into their run. I just walk up to each one, pick her up and carry her back to the run. This alone makes all the work socializing them worth it!

That makes sense. I read the wrong advice on Reddit about having grit on hand. They said that if I had bedding shavings from the beginning that I should have grit in case they eat it and to prepare for them eating other things. I won’t give them any more until they start on other food.

Thank you! I’ll start handling them more. They make a HUGE fuss but they’re just getting over pasty so no more bath time (hopefully)

 

[Chickole]

Also, what did you name them?

No names yet! We’re still thinking of good ones based on their personality

 

[rosemarythyme]

Your routine sounds fine, it's more time than I spend with chicks and I consider my flock tame enough. Some birds will never like being picked up but as long as they can tolerate handling that's enough for me.

What's your heat source? If using a heat lamp, what's the hot/cold temps inside the brooder? Pasty butt can sometimes be linked to too much heat, so something to consider if it persists as a problem.

That makes sense. I read the wrong advice on Reddit about having grit on hand. They said that if I had bedding shavings from the beginning that I should have grit in case they eat it and to prepare for them eating other things. I won’t give them any more until they start on other food.

You're going to get differing advice on this. I give them grit immediately as they will eat bedding, just a pinch every handful of days on their food. I do not give them unlimited access to it though, to prevent any gorging behavior. Once they're older grit is offered free choice.

 

[Debbie292d]

You're going to get differing advice on this. I give them grit immediately as they will eat bedding, just a pinch every handful of days on their food. I do not give them unlimited access to it though, to prevent any gorging behavior. Once they're older grit is offered free choice.

Same here. We use horse bedding pellets in our brooder at about Day 4, and I'm sure they have to taste everything so those too.

I do the same and just sprinkle a pinch on their food.