to slow

[ali]

how do you cetch and handle a chicken? i've heard that bantams will sit in your lap and let you pet them, but i can't get to um to get them aquainted to me. i don't want to stress them and i don't want to hurt them but i want to hold them. help please.

 

[cookinmom]

I think it's easier if they knew you when they were babies. Snacks help too, if you can get them used to eating from your hand. I've noticed that since mine have started laying, if I approach them from straight above, they hunker down (I think they think I'm a roo) and I can just pick 'em up. Mine aren't banties though.

 

[Frozen Feathers]

I think the best time to get a hold of them is when they go in to roost. Mine usually go in about a half hour before it starts to get dark and I make sure I hold each of the young ones and the rooster. If you do this every night, then soon they will be easier to catch, because they know you aren't going to eat them. I pick each young one up gently, pet them all over and place them back on the roost. If they start to freak out, I flip them over for a second, which calms them right down. They learn very quickly they only get put back on the roost when they are calm, hence they will become calm each time you pick them up.

Or sit on the ground with treats in your hand. This takes a lot of patience. I throw some treats near where I am sitting then set some right beside me, then on my leg and finally just hold them in my hands. They'll get braver, especially if the treats are really tempting. I don't usually pick up my big girls, but if they see me sitting on the ground, they come over to see what I have and it doesn't take long for them to be crawling all over me.

This is what has worked for me, I'm sure other people will have other suggestions for you to try. Good luck!

 

[ali]

thanks i'll try this.

 

[JackieK318]

Tote them around like babies. Talk to them. Treat them when they come - like dogs. Getting them off the roost works best because they're sleeping or going to sleep. Remember each chicken is different - think dog breeds. You know labs are just people lovers in general, some bird breeds are the same. My barred rocks, RIRs and new hampshires just love to be held and petted. The partridge rocks and leghorns (airheads) are the most nervous birds. They jump if I touch a feather. Pig, my oldest barred rock, will come running whenever I walk outside - even if she's in the woods!

I haven't held my baby chicks as often as the older group (when they were chicks) due to the recent bout with coccdia and not wanting to spread anything, but they will perch on my shoulder, arms and head when I open the brooder. They're jumpy when I put my hands in, but they will come out to me. I have just talked to them often and they saw me spending time with Splash (while in the chicken hospital).

 

[ali]

OK SWEET THANKS