Your thoughts on having "tame" chicks??

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Everyone's comments are great. Thank you everybody for the input.

I have noticed that my black ones ( they are either black sexlinks or barred rocks, not sure) are less skittish and don't mind being held as much. The golden ones are much more nervous and peep pretty loudly until they are with me for a minute or so. It's funny. They run to the back of the brooder when I start messing around with them. But then I put my hand down with some food in it and just let it sit there where they are at. They start coming around and pecking at the food. It's almost like they forgot what they were afraid of. I think they have short memories.
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But I do agree that chickens are chickens. They aren't dogs or cats. I guess it's the pet lover in all of us that wants them to be tame just like any other animal we might own.
 
My last barred rock is less afraid of people and easier to deal with than any I've had so far. Therefore your black ones must be barred rocks. hehe.
 
Funny...they are black, but don't the barred rocks turn gray once they've grown? I remember seeing a picture of one and it was no longer black.

BTW, I spend a few minutes again earlier this evening just picking up the chickies and talking to them, scratching under their necks and fronts. It seemed to calm them down. They are all so different though. The one golden one has a fit when I pick her up - cheeps really loud and wants down. I pick up another gold one and she squirms a bit, but once I talk to her, she starts making these little tiny peeps and seems to relax. I figure if I just keep doing this every day, they'll eventually get used to me. I don't need them to be affectionate - I just want them to be comfortable with me once they are in the coop.
 
Many years ago OldGal and I raised a duckling by accident. (Long story that some would consider gross.) Anyway, OldGal thought it was cute when she taught the duckling to sit on her shoulder, hide in her hair and give her "kisses". The down side to this didn't become obvious until the duck reached adulthood. He was of the firm belief that even though he'd grown into a 12 pound gander he should still be allowed to "sit on her shoulder, hide in her hair and give her kisses." Another example of the law of unintended consequences.
 
That's too funny! Yeah, I suppose it could get sticky when the hens are older and still want to come up to you for treats, peting, etc. Who knows what mine will be like? Some of them are fine with me holding them, and others are very opposed to it! I just want them to be half ways tame when I go into the coop to tend them.
 
I've raised chickens for 20 years and have always talked to them, held them, and fed them treats and that seems to be the key. I've had just about every breed and they all can be extremely tame. Even spending 5 minutes with them a few times per day is more than enough to tame them. You just become part of their flock. I could always walk up to any of my chickens and bend over and pick them up. They were all fine with it. All my roos would find me "choice bugs and stones" and bring them over to me so I could eat them, LOL! As long as you don't have kids or pets that chase them or use loud noises, you should be fine. they don't ike a lot of craziness going on.
 
Yes, I agree. Mine are in the garage right now, and they don't like it when there's any kind of really loud noises. Depending on their mood, if I try to grab one, the whole brood runs to the back of the box. I hope that when I do this I'm not terrifying them. Like I said, they seem to calm down and almost forget about it after a few minutes. Last evening I just put my hand down in the brooder with some feed in my palm. They eventually just walk up to my hand and start pecking. Some will even step right on my hand. I just keep talking to them. I think I'm worse than a woman (no offense to you ladies out there....). I have a real tender spot in my heart for most animals.

dirtbath said:
I've raised chickens for 20 years and have always talked to them, held them, and fed them treats and that seems to be the key. I've had just about every breed and they all can be extremely tame. Even spending 5 minutes with them a few times per day is more than enough to tame them. You just become part of their flock. I could always walk up to any of my chickens and bend over and pick them up. They were all fine with it. All my roos would find me "choice bugs and stones" and bring them over to me so I could eat them, LOL! As long as you don't have kids or pets that chase them or use loud noises, you should be fine. they don't ike a lot of craziness going on.
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