How To Make Chickens Friendly

Have you ever wanted chickens that come when you call them and are friendly, even around children? Keep reading to learn how you can make your chickens friendly.

Chickens are naturally afraid of humans. Just like other animals, chickens naturally run away when you approach them.

However, if you are raising your own chickens you can tame them and make them friendly around people. My flock of chickens always comes when I call them and they aren’t scared of me.

Below you will find my techniques for raising friendly chickens. Just realize that some chickens will be friendlier than others.

How To Raise Friendly Chickens

Raising friendly chickens starts as soon as you buy chicks. The crucial stage for raising friendly chickens is when they are still pullets (under a year old).

I am going to explain what you should do for each stage in a chicken’s life to make them friendly.

Making Chicks Friendly

If you are ordering your chicks through the mail, you should receive them before they are 72 hours old. If you buy chicks at a feed store, they are most likely older than a day or two.

When chicks are shipped through the mail they undergo a lot of stress, and I don’t recommend holding them for the first 24 hours.

If you got your chicks from a feed store and they look older than a day, it is okay to hold them once they are home.

Frequently holding chicks is actually one of the best ways to raise friendly chickens. There is a certain way you should treat them when holding them if you want them to be friendly.

How To Hold Chicks Correctly

When holding your chicks make sure you are sitting on the ground. This is safer if they accidently escape your hands (happens more than you would think).

Don’t squeeze them, but hold them tight as this will make them feel safe. You can also gently stroke their feathers going from their head to their tail.

Don’t stroke them from tail to head because this is uncomfortable for them and they don’t enjoy it. Slowly your chicks will get used to being held, and some may even want you to hold them.

Some people want to know an exact amount of time that chicks should be held. I don’t think that there is a magical amount of time that makes them friendly.

When I am raising chicks for my backyard flock, I just hold them every time I replace their water or food. If I had to guess, I probably spend an hour or more a day with the chicks when they are very young.

Don’t Scare Chicks

Chicks that are scared will always be scared of people. Scaring young chicks is not funny and it causes them to be unfriendly and fearful.

Never yell at your chicks and make slow movements when picking them up. You should never surprise them or operate loud equipment near them while they are young.

If you have young children, explain to them that scaring chicks is not good.

Feed Them From Your Hand

Feeding treats from your hand, like these immune boosting ones, will help your chickens realize that you are not going to hurt them.

I especially like to feed chicks rolled oats from my hand. To start, just place your hand with the oats into the brooder and let the chicks come as they please.

Usually the chicks will realize that you are not a threat and will gladly eat from your hands.

Making Juvenile Chickens Friendly

Once your chicks are around 4 weeks old, they are going to really change in appearance. While it is still critical to treat them properly, they are probably very comfortable around you by this time.

Take Your Chicks Outside

Taking juvenile chicks on “trips” outdoors will help them grow healthy and friendly. When the days are calm and warm, I like to take my chicks outside.

Your chicks will need absolute supervision and sometimes they will want to hang close to you. I think this is because the new environment is unknown.

Let your chicks have some time outside, and then bring them back to their brooder. This will help them acclimate to being outdoors all the time.

Making Adult Chickens Friendly

Once your chickens are in their coop, there are still some ways you can make them friendly. Here is how I keep them friendly and train them to come to my call.

Here Chick Chick

You may wonder how people train their chickens to come every time they call, “here chick chick”. Well, it is actually very simple.

Every time you feed your chickens, repeat a phrase you want them to associate with food. I like the good old here chick chick, but you can make it anything you want.

After a few weeks your chickens will realize that when you say this there will be food. Chickens love food, and they will now come running to this call.

I also like to throw scratch grains while calling this. Teaching your chickens to come when called is so important.

If they ever go to far or you need them to get back into the coop, having them come on command is essential.

Don’t scare them

While your chickens are probably very friendly by now, you still shouldn’t purposely chase them, yell at them, or scare them.

Trust me, having chickens that are docile and that can be held is going to make chicken keeping much easier.

What About Roosters

Often people don’t raise roosters because they are afraid they will be aggressive. While some roosters can be aggressive, this doesn’t need to be the case.

If you want to raise your roosters to be friendly like your hens, you should read this post on how to tame a rooster.

What If My Chickens Chase Me

Another common issue with chickens is they get in the habit of chasing people. This needs to be broken early on when you are raising them.

If you have a chicken that chases you, here is what you should do. Hold out your arms to make yourself look as big as possible, then run straight at your chicken.

They usually “chicken out” and run away from you. This usually cures the problem and they shouldn’t chase you again.

If you still have issues, you can pick the chicken up and hold it often. The chicken will realize that you are in control and they should stop bothering you.

Friendly Chickens Are Possible

Having chickens that come when you call, aren’t scared of you, and can easily be held will make keeping chickens much easier.

Remember having friendly chickens starts when they are just chicks.

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