will chicks gets used to me?

[Chicken Ducks]

How do I get my baby chicks used to me?


They are 19 days old

 

[kmollyhughes]

Treats, patience, and time. Always just be calm and talk to them. Some girls don't calm down until they are a few months old. They'll learn who spoils them and will come when they hear you call.

 

[seann]

Talk to them while you give them food, water, clean their area.
Spend time with them.

 

[3riverschick]

How do I get my baby chicks used to me?


They are 19 days old

Hi Chicken Ducks

Try finger tap training them. Chicks are curious creatures. Put a little treat down under your cupped hand. Then light drum your fingers on the ground. When the come over to investigate, pull your hand away so they can see and get at the treat. Keep at it and soon they will associate your finger drumming with treats. You will be able to drum your fingers and they will come running. Just make sure the treat is very enticing, something they will see readily and age appropriate.
Links on training chickens:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/866622/training-chicks
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/884987/how-to-train-baby-chicks
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/674659/training-chickens
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/848529/clicker-training-japanese-bantams
http://www.legacycanine.com/workshops/chicken-camps.html
POULTRY IN MOTION - CLICKER TRAINING CHICKENS AS A PATHWAY TO TRAINING DOGS DVD
by Terry Ryan
http://www.dogwise.com/ItemDetails.cfm?ID=DTB1102
Best Success,
Karen in western PA

 

[farnorth]

Some chicks will be tamer than others. I have found though that chickens that enjoy human contact are pretty rare. Even chicks I hand raised and who would jump up onto my hand do not particularly like to be touched but will tolerate the occasional pet. Very few of them are cuddly. I think people expect them to be like puppies with feathers and they just aren't. They like food and treats. You can teach them to come running when they see you but it's mostly for the food. Many of mine will tolerate me petting them but some won't come within arms reach even though I have always been kind to them and never hurt one.....some of them act like I am an axe wielding maniac.....

 

[Monguire]

Our 6 babies are 9 days old now. They were all pretty skittish out of the box and we made it a point to pick them up out of the brooder and hold/cuddle them individually to try and get them used to us. We saw some very limited success...even when bribing with dried mealworms. The one we took out of the brooder just wanted desperately to get back in with the others and the other five were all scurrying back and forth in the brooder, craning their little necks like folks rubber-necking a car accident on the freeway....all agitated and not wanting to see blood, but really hoping to see blood all the same.

What REALLY worked quickly was playtime outside. We'd box em up and take them outside and plop em in a superyard baby-gate corral. My wife would then hop in and sit/lay on the ground. It was almost magical. The chicks would come running to her for shade from the hot sun or warmth from the cool breeze or whenever she'd scratch a little in the grass to reveal wriggly snacks. They soon took to roosting on her legs and jockeying for position closest to her torso where they'd happily be petted/rubbed/fawned-over. The contact was on their terms outside (versus the hand of doom reaching into the brooder to snatch chicks away) and it really seemed like she imprinted on them as their mother hen. In just four days of outings (anywhere from 20-60 minutes each) we've gone from wary standoffishness to them LOUDLY peep-squeeing (see: squee) and scrambling over top of each other to be the first to get closest to my wife EVERY time she walks into the room now.

We're inexperienced and these are our first chicks, but I'm thinking we might be on to something here. We'll continue their daily constitutionals outside until they are of age to go into the coop. As they age, it'll be curious to see if there really is a bond forming between the girls and my wife or if they just see her as provider of treats.

Anyways, just tossing our (in)experience into the ring for others to mull-over/try.

 

[CollegeChicken]

there are three factors that influence how comfortable a chicken is with human presence/interaction

1) BREED
2) AGE
3) Handling at a young age

I dont agree with handling chicks a lot. I think its torture for them and they hate it. One accidental drop and you've killed them or broken their legs etc. They have no desire to 'cuddle' with us or anything like that. And neither do chickens. I LOVE the post about drumming the finger with the treats..THAT IS A REALISTIC EXPECTION...if you can get your chickens to associate you with food they will toss their skittish-ness aside and often times come right up to you etc.... but other than the occasional rare exception most chickens do not want/crave human contact. Some breeds are more docile by nature than others. Many would agree a cochin is more docile than a leghorn but theres ALWAYS exceptions. Keep in mind almost all breeds of chickens are more flighty and skittish as chicks and many will become calmer and less reactive to your presence and movements as they become adults.