Taming/Training my chicks

[Steakneggs]

My first post here was about the 6 chicks and 2 geese I had bought. 3 RIR, 3 Cornish X and the two Toulouse.

Well I have added since then. And these are all chicks yet as well.

My first 6 chicks are pretty easy to handle. They don't run, or try to flap out of my hands when I pick them up.
All the new ones (except for the 3 black jersey giants) are absolutely terrified. And this is even AFTER a whole 2 weeks of repeated picking up/playing with/moving them from their enclosure inside to their coop outside.

The two worst are the Leghorns.

Unlike the geese, my chickens do NOT follow me around. They in fact, RUN the opposite direction.

I see stories on here about how tame everyone's chickens are.

What is everyone's secret to taming/training your chicks so they are easier to handle in the future?

 

[showjumper_girl2002]

One of the easiest ways i think is to hatch them yourself and handle them as soon as they fluff up a little at a time. That's what I did with my 5 chicks. They are 4 weeks old now and love to snuggle and use me as their personal jungle gym when I sit out with them they will all line up in my lap and lay on their sides to get belly rubs too since yours aren't used to you I would try food. I've read a lot of posts on here about food being a great way to tame chickens. They may not want to be held but you can have them Coming to you and maybe even get them to like being scratched. The 5 chicks I have are my first so I don't have too much experience yet but my dad has chickens and he doesn't play with them or anything but he does bring treats and when they here his car pull up he gets mobbed by 30 chickens! so i would try getting them to eat from your hand and use a certain call every time you go to give them something. I just call here chick chick chick and mine come running. Just give them time. Good luck

 

[Steakneggs]

Thankyou!
I was suprized this evening when I came home and walked past the coop, i was followed by a group of 5 or 6 chicks...excluding the leghorns. Given, the geese were following too and I think the chicks were just following them. BUT! I feel my chicken taming toiling is starting to pay off.
I do call the geese with "skeet skeet skeet" and they normally come running with wings extended.
Maybe I will just put the chickens out in the coop tommorow and see if they come when I call.
Would treats help? I've tried raisins, but they seem uninterested.

 

[angel8035]

Thankyou!

I was suprized this evening when I came home and walked past the coop, i was followed by a group of 5 or 6 chicks...excluding the leghorns. Given, the geese were following too and I think the chicks were just following them. BUT! I feel my chicken taming toiling is starting to pay off.
I do call the geese with "skeet skeet skeet" and they normally come running with wings extended.
Maybe I will just put the chickens out in the coop tommorow and see if they come when I call.
Would treats help? I've tried raisins, but they seem uninterested.

Leghorns are a flighty breed that will probably never want to be handled by you. Try mealworms as a treat - they are like chicken crack.

 

[PugetCountry]

I'm new to chicks as well but I have a feeling it comes down to nature. We have 3 chicks that are 5.5 weeks and we got them at 2.5 weeks. We haven't handled them everyday because they've been outside for a couple weeks but they're still too young to free range (I'm just not confident I can get them back in the cage). Anyway...2 of them are buff orpingtons and the other is an EE. The buffs will come up to me right when I open the cage and they seem interested in me...they look at me...sit on my lap...let me pet them without flapping and trying to get away. The EE wants nothing to do with that.

I also have 9 other chicks that are between 2.5-4 weeks. Out of those 1 light brahma and 1 wyondotte seem to be into human interaction.

They may change over time though...at 3 weeks the buffs weren't really into us. I do talk to them everyday in a sweet voice even if I don't pick them up.

Good luck!

 

[CedarAcres]

Leghorns are definitely flighty. I actually got mine to enjoy being held though.. mainly by bribing them for weeks with their favorite treats. They are older now (about 4 months) and they still enjoy being held, so it is possible. I guess it depends how food motivated they are

I tend to get my chicks to like being handled by bribing them with food. The ones that don't really care about the treats are the ones that are less likely to want to be held, in my experience.

 

[aquamoonbeam]

We usually try to hand feed our chicks to get them to trust us. Also the meal worms help alot!