Raising Friendly Chicks?

[Tylt33]

Is there any kind of ballpark figure in hours or minutes daily in terms of socializing young chicks in order to get them to bond with you? We've been trying to hold each of our chicks a few minutes a few times a day, not wanting to stress them, but wanting to eventually have "lap chickens". I know a lot of it depends on the breed and personality, but we're trying to do everything we can to better our odds. Are there treats that are good for young chicks? Thanks for your input!

 

[easttxchick]

How old are your babies? Yogurt is a good treat for little ones.
Trust me, if you get them to associate you with treats, you'll have them on your lap, your head, your shoulder...I can't walk outside without ending up wearing a beautiful, little feathered hat on my head.

A few minutes a few times a day should be fine.

 

[sonjab314]

The more you put into them, the more you get out of them. I hold mine quite often and allow my kids to hold them a lot. I went outside and set down in a chair and it wasn't 2 minutes that I had a lap full of chickens. As far as treats go, hard boil an egg and chop it up (shell and all) and let them eat it. Some people like to give plain yogurt. I've never done that but I have done the egg. They go nuts for it. Good luck with your babies.

 

[chickee]

I sprinkle quick oats into their feeder a couple times a day. They go crazy over them and will come running and crowd around your feet (careful not to step on them!) Makes it easy to get them back into the chick house when it's time to close them in! Be sure to sprinkle chick grit (get it at your local feed store) on their food every few days if you are feeding them treats. My full grown chickens get old fashioned oats as a treat in the morning (oats have B vitamins~very good for chickens health) and when I let them out to free range I can always get them to come running back into the pen by throwing some oats on the ground and calling them. Works like a charm

Just be aware that generally pullet chicks are standoffish while rooster chicks come right up to be petted!
Have fun!

 

[Tylt33]

Thank you for the suggestions! I'm going to stop and get some plain yogurt on the way home tonight

Chicks are too cute!

 

[laughaha]

All you have to do is spend time with them- Mine come running the second I go outside (trying out freeranging)- wanna see something cute watch about a hundred chickens (of various ages)and two geese come full tilt at you when you say "where's the babies". Heaven help me if I'm in a hurry in the morning, once they are loose it takes about 5 minutes to safely navigate 20 steps, lol.

handfeed them all treats
pick up and snuggle every day at least once
if you don't have kids- recruit the neighbor kids to love up on them
when they get bigger- collect all the japanese beetles you can find and handfeed them- even the white leghorns will eat these out of my hands. they are the chicken equivalent to potato chips crunch crunch

 

[HudsonValleyGirl]

My pullets are 4 months old, but when they were chicks we would put them on our laps (with a towel) and what TV with them. We held them all the time. Now all I have to do is go girls and they run right up. I would say spend about an 1 hour per day with them or near them.

 

[Tylt33]

We have their cage in our living room so that they are constantly exposed to us. They're only... five days old now. We try and hold each of them a few minutes each day just so that they become familiar with each of us. We definitely have a range of personalities in the bunch! Some are much braver than others. I picked up the yogurt... gonna see if they like that. Both my fiance and I have the summer off from work, so we're trying to spend as much time with the chicks before we have to go back

 

[noodleroo]

You can go to my page to see what I do. Its nice that you have lots of time to spend with them; they're only little for a little while....

 

[Mak]

Raisins. Works for me. Every time I go out to see them, I put a handful of raisins in my pocket. Most will run up to me now, and follow me around the run area. One will climb up in my lap for a raisin, and one will jump a couple feet in the air to grab one out of my fingers. They all (mostly) will crowd around to get a share. I do have a couple who are stand offish, but I suppose personalities are different with chickens, just like every other animal- and people!

I should also say that out of hand is the only time they get raisins. I wanted them to associate that treat with people.