When will my chicks warm up to me?

[JaJoJu]

I have had my sex link chicks for a week and a half. I try to handle them and talk to them every day, as do my kids and my husband. They still scurry away and peep frantically when I put my hand near them. I don't expect the same sort of relationship that people have with a dog or a cat, but will they ever warm up at all or will they always be skittish?

Diane

 

[Indianfeathers]

We are also new at having chickens. Our's are almost 1 year old. I would just keep handling them. i let our children hold them and cuddle them a lot but also gave the chicks quite time to destress. We have one chicken who is very friendly with us and will follow us around and loves to be cuddled and all the rest want nothing to do with us unless we are giving out treats.

 

[coltsmom]

I am wondering the same about a pair of EE's chicks i bought the day before Easter. They are apx 3 wks old and so skittish. I'm a newbie. We bought 6 Red sex linked from our local farm store they are about 7-9 wks now and they are so loving. They come to us eat out of our hands and climb into my lap when i go in the coop with them. I let them all out 2-4 times a day in the yard and supervise them. They come right back to coop when i call them (pretty birds). I am spending more time with the 2 little ones but the bonding is just not happening.It's got my son a little discouraged.I just keep reminding him about genetics and different personalities of all creature and that he did great with the bigger big and just to keep on loving the little guys.
I am ranting but letting know I feel kind of the same way. Just keep loving them and accept them for the birds they are. They are lucky to have a person that cares.
Kelly H

 

[Anianna]

Mine were very terrified of me or anybody moving around in the first week. I started giving them dried meal worm treats when they turned a week old while calling "chicky, chicky, chicky" to them. Three days later, my RIRs are still largely afraid of me, but a few of them and my Delawares now wait for me and don't run away unless I make too sudden a move. They still don't want me to pick them up, though. I am trying to get them over that by picking them up and immediately giving them treats, but some are terrified enough that they won't take the treat. I have only one that will hang out in my lap and ask me for more meal worms, although, she still fusses a little when I first pick her up.

 

[ninabeast]

For what it's worth, here's what I did:

I'm a first time chicken owner, and my chicks are 19 days old. I have two small girls who desperately want to hold the chicks, but I decided we were going to let the chicks take the lead. When they were very small, I moved toward them very slowly with a hand palm up and never from above (activates the HAWK!! instinct). A few of them relaxed enough to let me rub their chests and tummies while they were relaxing. If they moved away, I didn't press it, and we never picked them up (except for poopy butt). This was, and continues to be, hard on the girls, but I told them what the chicks want is more important than what we want. (But what do I know?)

My chicks never showed any interest in treats until I gave them mealworms, and then I became The Hand That Brings Good Things. I had them eat out of my hand only a couple of times. Around 10 days, their curiosity got the better of them, and they began to hop first onto the down-folded box flap, then right out of the brooder. I have now built a 3' x 5' run attached to the brooder opening (yes, it's inside the house...yes, I am insane; why do you ask?), and they come out of the brooder for "recess" 4-5 times a day. They LOVE it. They scream to be let out, and then they come, literally, FLYING out of the brooder. They eat treats, they fly around, they do that crazy chest-bumping thing. (They also complain like crazy when I put them back in...)

I just sit there and watch them, and a few of the braver ones hop up on my legs, roosting on my arms, a couple have even gone all the way from one wrist, up the arm, around the neck and back down the other. I move very slowly around them, and talk to them softly. My favourites compete for the best spot on my lap. It's very rewarding.

That said, I have come to the conclusion that they are probably not going to want to be held the way a dog or a cat does, and there are 6 of the 12 who are never going to come to me the way the others do. And that's okay.

So, that's my story, because I had the exact same question about 10 days ago. Let us know how it goes...

 

[BigZ]

My chicks are about 5-6 weeks now. The only one that was curious enough to come up and be handled is a Barred Rock Roo. He loves it when I rub his chest. The other Barred Rocks soon followed suite after observing me pet there buddy. The other breeds also like their chests rubbed, but only happened after I got tired of waiting for their affection. I make it a point to have a quiet place where they can get comfortable and pull the most skidish chick at the time out every day. I rub the chicks chest weather they like it or not. Soon they submit and after a bit will even fall asleep with comfort. This has worked for all my chicks. Including my White Faced Black Spanish Bantam who was the most skidish. The White Leghorns even come up and peck me if I'm petting someone else. It's funny to see them get jealous of one another. When I leave their brooder they spar each other too. Kind of like they are ticked that someone got petted more then them.

 

[zoa]

Quote:

I have 33 chicks and only a few of them are "friendly", and that has come after weeks and many, many hours of food bribery!!!! I think patience and persistence are the keys here, and hopefully after time they will be the cuddly chickens we all desire! (I keep telling myself that anyway....

)

 

[ScissorChick]

Welcome to Back Yard Chickens!

Did you hatch them or buy them?

I always hatch my chicks, and they always turn out sweet and easy to handle.

Any chicks that have been bought are most likely going to take longer to warm

up to you, since they havent had much attention and love from us big scary humans

Don't worry, You'll get there!

ScissorChick

 

[AnaD]

I just hang out next to the brooder without touching. I talk to them and hold my hand out to let them look at it and sometimes step out on it. I don't worry too much about holding them since I don't really want to hold the dirty things anyway. At 12 weeks they come when they hear me and sit next to me when I sit down and follow me around the yard. I still don't care to handle them, but it is nice to have them near.

 

[JaJoJu]

Quote:
I purchased them from a feed store.