Should Baby Chickens be imprinted on a human before getting them as pets.

[lachie27]

I am currently doing a Animal Science class and am thinking of getting chickens as pets. We are currently studying Imprinting, I am wondering when you keep chickens as backyard pets should they be imprinted on the owner of the chickens or should I not worry about it. Also just curious has anyone imprinted their chicken on their dog?

 

[Rowsdower]

Imprinting or not, you are the bearer of the food. Give them enough treats and you've a friend for life.

 

[Blackberry18]

Never done the dog thing before, but chickens make great pets, and will imprint on you. Mine follow me when ever I move, and allow themselves to be petted. My fabulous White Leghorns jump on my lap and come when I call. Very strong bond between my chickens and I.

 

[LLCoyote]

I'm not entirely sure that I believe chickens can truly imprint on people and I know they can't if you buy them as chicks and not eggs. Not unless you got the eggs from someone who also hatched them in hopes of imprinting them on people.

When it all comes down to it, the likelihood of you being there right as they hatch is pretty low and even if you are, you won't be holding them or interacting with them for quite a while. They will be interacting with one another though. They'll be hearing and smelling and seeing their brothers and sisters. If you got a single chick and hatched it and raised it yourself, maybe that would result in a true imprint, but that isn't healthy for the chick at all.

What I do think is important is getting chicks that are young, learning to interact with them correctly, and doing it often. Between the interaction and the food, even if they don't see you as their actual mama, they'll start to see you as a member of their flock. I just got my first batch of chicks this year and when I'd take them outside as little ones they'd come and curl up between my legs (like they'd get under a mama hen) when they started to get cold and needed to go inside.

From what I hear, chickens make really good pets and thus far mine really have. Friendliness also depends on breed as well as individual. In my flock, while my other 4 girls aren't afraid of me they don't particularly like me. My buff orpingtons are unbelievably friendly though. They want to sit in my lap and climb on my shoulder and let me pick them up so that other can pet them as well. I'd get quite a few chickens, just because like any other animal I think some are just a bit more aloof than others.

If you do try imprinting methods you should definitely post them, I'm curious to see the amount of success you'll have. I've been wondering about domestication myself and that if I raise two or three generations of tame chickens if that line will start continuously producing more friendly and outgoing chicks that require less handling. I haven't been able to find any information on it but I know I had a friend with geese that swore it worked.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

A baby chick only imprints on the first large moveable THING that it encounters after hatching. Ideally that "thing" is the chicks' mother. Chicks that imprint on inappropriate things or items are at risk in a free range environment. In other words they are as likely to run underneath a running lawn mower for safety as that chick is likely to eat a bug.

 

[PapaChaz]

I'm not entirely sure that I believe chickens can truly imprint on people and I know they can't if you buy them as chicks and not eggs. Not unless you got the eggs from someone who also hatched them in hopes of imprinting them on people.

When it all comes down to it, the likelihood of you being there right as they hatch is pretty low and even if you are, you won't be holding them or interacting with them for quite a while. They will be interacting with one another though. They'll be hearing and smelling and seeing their brothers and sisters. If you got a single chick and hatched it and raised it yourself, maybe that would result in a true imprint, but that isn't healthy for the chick at all.

What I do think is important is getting chicks that are young, learning to interact with them correctly, and doing it often. Between the interaction and the food, even if they don't see you as their actual mama, they'll start to see you as a member of their flock. I just got my first batch of chicks this year and when I'd take them outside as little ones they'd come and curl up between my legs (like they'd get under a mama hen) when they started to get cold and needed to go inside.

From what I hear, chickens make really good pets and thus far mine really have. Friendliness also depends on breed as well as individual. In my flock, while my other 4 girls aren't afraid of me they don't particularly like me. My buff orpingtons are unbelievably friendly though. They want to sit in my lap and climb on my shoulder and let me pick them up so that other can pet them as well. I'd get quite a few chickens, just because like any other animal I think some are just a bit more aloof than others.

If you do try imprinting methods you should definitely post them, I'm curious to see the amount of success you'll have. I've been wondering about domestication myself and that if I raise two or three generations of tame chickens if that line will start continuously producing more friendly and outgoing chicks that require less handling. I haven't been able to find any information on it but I know I had a friend with geese that swore it worked.

you 'know they can't if you buy them as chicks and not eggs'..........

ok, I'd seriously like to know how you know this, and then explain to me why a 5 week old white leghorn pullet follows my grand daughter every where she goes when she comes over. Oh, and she only comes over a couple days a week, wed and sat. We don't always go into the coop and run, but when we do, one of the white leghorns she started picking up and petting at about 4 weeks old now follows her everywhere. And no, it's not because she has a pocket full of treats because i don't let her do that.....

so say that again? and this time make me believe it? nah, you won't

because, I bought 8 Blue Ameraucanas, 6 of them were a week old, 2 were a day old. the temp brooder I built to house them for their first 5 weeks, had access from above. They would run screaming to the corners any time I'd raise the lid to take care of feed, water or bedding. God forbid I had to pick one of them up........

now that they're 7 and 8 weeks old, there is one that will wait for me to get settled in my lawn chair, then come climp my leg and sit in my lap. That's with NO treats. a few others will come along kind of nonchalantly. She'll let them up as long as she's up there, but if she gets down and one comes over to climb up, she's not having it and will come back over there........this didn't start happening until somewhere around the 6-6 1/2 week time frame.......

 

[LLCoyote]

you 'know they can't if you buy them as chicks and not eggs'..........

ok, I'd seriously like to know how you know this, and then explain to me why a 5 week old white leghorn pullet follows my grand daughter every where she goes when she comes over. Oh, and she only comes over a couple days a week, wed and sat. We don't always go into the coop and run, but when we do, one of the white leghorns she started picking up and petting at about 4 weeks old now follows her everywhere. And no, it's not because she has a pocket full of treats because i don't let her do that.....

so say that again? and this time make me believe it? nah, you won't

because, I bought 8 Blue Ameraucanas, 6 of them were a week old, 2 were a day old. the temp brooder I built to house them for their first 5 weeks, had access from above. They would run screaming to the corners any time I'd raise the lid to take care of feed, water or bedding. God forbid I had to pick one of them up........

now that they're 7 and 8 weeks old, there is one that will wait for me to get settled in my lawn chair, then come climp my leg and sit in my lap. That's with NO treats. a few others will come along kind of nonchalantly. She'll let them up as long as she's up there, but if she gets down and one comes over to climb up, she's not having it and will come back over there........this didn't start happening until somewhere around the 6-6 1/2 week time frame.......

First off you have absolutely no reason to be rude. Second, I don't see how you can prove to me that your pullet sees your granddaughter as its mother since she is not there on a daily basis.

I never said you couldn't make chickens friendly or good pets. There is a difference between regular bonding and imprinting though, at least in the traditional sense of the word which means to make them see you as their mother. Tons of chicks are friendly. My BOs are in my lap all of the time and I didn't get them until they were two weeks old. I'm not even saying they don't see me as a trusted member of their flock, but I'm not going to say they think I'm their mother. I don't think that association is possible once you get them so late. That is what people traditionally mean by imprinting. At least that is what all of my animal science classes taught me when I was in college.

My point was not particularly to convince you of anything... in fact I have no idea who you are, so why would I? If you don't agree with what I'm saying, feel free to state your own opinion, but I still believe you that what you're describing is taming and befriending your chicks, not having them imprint on you.

 

[keesmom]

There is a difference between regular bonding and imprinting though, at least in the traditional sense of the word which means to make them see you as their mother. Tons of chicks are friendly. My BOs are in my lap all of the time and I didn't get them until they were two weeks old. I'm not even saying they don't see me as a trusted member of their flock, but I'm not going to say they think I'm their mother. I don't think that association is possible once you get them so late. That is what people traditionally mean by imprinting. At least that is what all of my animal science classes taught me when I was in college.

I agree. I have had many chickens over the years, hatchery chicks and ones I have hatched myself, and I have never had one that I could say truly imprinted on me. Do they grow up friendly and come running when I am outside? Most definitely. I do not consider that imprinting however.

I did have some ducklings imprint on me. It can drive you absolutely out of your mind! If they could not see me they peeped incessantly. When they were very young it would start at first light. Peep peep peep peep peep. When they were old enough to go outside they would stick close when I was out doing yard work, which was convenient. But the minute I went in they would run around calling for me. Peep peep peep peep peep peep. Luckily ducklings mature more quickly than chicks so this phase only lasted 5 or 6 weeks.

 

[lachie27]

I have 2 lovely baby chicks and they have just started having meetings with my dog cassie. They get along great and the chicks nestle in with the dog as she sleeps. I have not tried imprinting the baby chicks on the dog because this would affect their behaviour and their learning. If they saw the dog as a motherly figure they would start to learn things off her and they would not develop the normal skills and mindset a chicken needs like foraging for food and other normal chicken behaviours. Overall I do not believe that a chicken needs to be imprinted on a human or dog as this would interrupt the normal ways of the chicken.

 

[IJustWantMyChicksToLive]

even though a chick imprinting on you would be cute, I agree with the idea that it would affect the chick's behavior, and their natural instincts. My chicks will settle down and let me hold them, but yes, with a little squirming. Unless you have chickens as pets, you don't need to have them imprint on you to get eggs, and potentially meat.