Taming chicks - This works great!

[juliechick]

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.

 

[Backyardbarngirl]

What sort of kibble are you using?
I would like to try this.

 

[juliechick]

I get it at Wal Mart. It's Old Roy Soft & Moist Beef Flavor, comes in a box, in little packages. Get the BEEF flavor only, not the mixed.

 

[zengrrl]

What a fabulous idea, food always works!

 

[chisNchickens]

I wouldn't feed that garbage to a cockroach. Those soft kibbles are worse than the regular because they use propylene glycol to retain moisture and preserve. PG is a cousin to antifreeze and is a potential carcinogen if not an outright cancer-causing agent. Nasty stuff.

 

[knjinnm]

Besides food the key is to handle them as often as possible.

 

[fishin-nole]

Dried mealies work just as well.

 

[Nicole01]

I take the chick starter and wet it down. It works very well.

 

[hennyannie]

Great idea. I have used the moistened starter and also finely chopped apple they love.

 

[MsPony]

Yes, that stuff is horrible! If you DO do kibble, do something high end. But frankly, simple homemade jerky or cooked meat works just as well. Or banana chips, or chiles dipped in ranch or or or...chickens are glutons.

We just hold the chicks everyday, the sit on my (toweled) lap and when they are tiny I wrap my hands around them like mothers wing. I also talk to them constantly, I do my special "call" ("chickie lalas!!!" Or "chicka la!") and they learn to come to your voice, and my hens even respond back.

I've done with 6 chicks all at once