The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: omnipeasant on August 05, 2012, 10:09:13 pm
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I am still loving my chooks (thanks Rosie Posie) but I hope I am not letting them get too tame. They always come rushing to greet me when I walk through the garden. Queenie is always first. But yesterday somebody jumped up to try to take some imagined treat out of my hand. Should I back off a bit, or is this okay. Roger isn't getting too big for his boots (probably the thrashing by Andy Murray today has subdued him) .
I never realised chooks couldbe so much fun.
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I love my tame girls but avoid feeding from my hand, I scatter the feed behind them once they are in the main run to avoid nips to my boys when they feed.
They come running as soon as they see me to check if Ive got treats. If I wantbthem back in the run I just shake the treat tub.
They are picked up regularly on a weekly basis to help with handling in any needed situations ( and just for a hug from my 4 yr old ::) )
Saying that I've only got 3 now so they are easy to keep this way. And yes they are great fun to have. I just need some more now :innocent:
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It's whatever you are happy with. I don't like my hens TOO tame as I tend to trip over them if they are. A couple of dozen hens trying to walk on your wellies wherever you go can be a pest after a while :D :chook:
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I used to have birds that would come and sit on my lap, take bread from my hand. So long as none of them get pecky / scratchy, this is fine, if you like it. All my animals get taught "All gone!", showing empty hands, after which begging is completely ignored. Even chickens seem to get the idea after a while.
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Ha, I do that 'all gone' showing empty hands too ;D
You need to train the chooks how you want them - even chooks can learn for food ;)
So - maybe you want to only scatter the food? Or maybe only feed by hand once you're sitting down?
Mine come running if they see me in the yard after 4pm but expect me to scatter food so they don't jump up. But if I am sitting on the stone seat in the ghyll they come and pester, as they have learned I give them sultanas then ;D
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I feel like the pied piper as mine follow me everywhere thinking they will get fed but they only get fed at certain times and in particular places.
I had a couple of slices of bread in my hands yesterday that I was taking to the pigs and one chook jumped up and took a chunk out of it.
Mine seem to prefer cranberries to raisins. I think its to do with the colour. I have a broody hen and while she is sitting I always take her a few for a treat which she eats from my hand whilst on the nest.
Sally
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I also do the scatter feeding and the all gone thing. They all come running to see me just in case I have something for them. One of my new girls has taken to sitting on my back for a few minuets every morning it's a bit odd ??? she just sits there chatting away to me then gets off and carries on with breakfast . Have considered trying to stand up so she ends up on my shoulder but I would look like a right t**t walking round the garden with a chicken sat on my shoulder. I would look like a poor mans pirate that couldn't afford a parrot ;D . So I just look like a t**t bent double with a chicken sat on my back ::) .
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Fabulous! My OH used to have a White Star jump first onto his shoulders then onto his head where she groomed his bald spot ;D Sadly she's gone to Mr Fox now but she was fabulous. Our exBatts are like a sea you have to wade through everytime you enter their area. I so often end up treading on the foot of one or more.
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I am loving your replies. I am not the only crazy chook mum out here.
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We've got a black rock who's taken to coming through the cat flap and waiting for food next to the breakfast room table, a goldline used to sit on the kids laps but sadly lived up to her name 'foxfood' so named as she was always escaping and heading past the fox den and the daftest araucana in the world too.
Mad cuddly things - even the cockerel's soppy.
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Get them as friendly as you like!
Ours eat from our hands, get cuddled and some get brought into the house by my daughter. ::)
I think the only problem with very tame hens, as FW says is falling over or standing on them as they dash after you. We've not had any trouble with them pecking as a result of being hand fed and my children have fed them since they were toddlers.
I don't feed them when we are sitting outdoors and eating though as it encourages them to jump on the picnic table.
Some of our flighty girls land on our shoulders and sit there as we go around doing our poultry jobs or even while I peg out the washing.
Have fun ;D
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AND one of them has just laid her first egg. Not in the chicken house mind you!!! These chooks just keep on giving don't they.
How long do I need to keep them in each morning, or do I become extra vigilant as to where they rest. First one found in the wood shed.
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Tamer the better for me Omni. Bottom our pet cockerel likes his cuddles before bed and is therefore very easy to check over.
We get ours up at 7.00am and they all lay in the nest boxes because they are large, secure and comfortable with curtains at the front. No chicken we have ever had has laid anywhere else, except the odd one in the run when the nest boxes are occupied.
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Thanks chrismahon. It isn't there fault about the woodshed, OH was supposed to mend the rabbit hutch that will become their nest box. :idea: Curtains are now on the agenda .