I have seen a lot of posts saying, "My chicks hate me!" and such. Here is what I have done this year with my chicks that has worked wonders:
Some folks use the soft dog food "kibble" to feed their showbirds, so I decided to start giving it to my chicks to train them for shows.
The first day, the chicks, who are only a few days old and already terrified of me, just huddled in the far corner of the brooder when I offered the kibble. I used my fingers to break it up into kind of a mush for them at first. I left a few pieces in the brooder for them to try while I was gone.
The second day the chicks still would not come to me, so I left more mashed kibble for them. I noticed later that it was gone.
Today was the third day. When I opened the brooder and dropped a bit of the mash, they all came running as soon as they saw it! I stuck my hand in with the kibble on it. After a few seconds hesitation, the chicks started pecking it out of my hand. Now, I have them! lol I already did this with a batch of older chicks and they love it so much that they will gather at the brooder door whenever they see me, and I have to shoo them back to keep them from falling out.
Word of Warning: Don't do this unless you want chicks all over you, pecking treats out of your hand. They are like kids waiting for an ice cream truck! They start crying for me when they hear me coming. I think I could train them to sing and dance for it.
Some folks use the soft dog food "kibble" to feed their showbirds, so I decided to start giving it to my chicks to train them for shows.
The first day, the chicks, who are only a few days old and already terrified of me, just huddled in the far corner of the brooder when I offered the kibble. I used my fingers to break it up into kind of a mush for them at first. I left a few pieces in the brooder for them to try while I was gone.
The second day the chicks still would not come to me, so I left more mashed kibble for them. I noticed later that it was gone.
Today was the third day. When I opened the brooder and dropped a bit of the mash, they all came running as soon as they saw it! I stuck my hand in with the kibble on it. After a few seconds hesitation, the chicks started pecking it out of my hand. Now, I have them! lol I already did this with a batch of older chicks and they love it so much that they will gather at the brooder door whenever they see me, and I have to shoo them back to keep them from falling out.
Word of Warning: Don't do this unless you want chicks all over you, pecking treats out of your hand. They are like kids waiting for an ice cream truck! They start crying for me when they hear me coming. I think I could train them to sing and dance for it.
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