So I’ll give credit where credit is due: I got this years ago while watching a video of the “Horse Whisperer”. Here’s the deal; horses, chickens, cows, antelopes, etc. are all herbivores, which means a prey species for the carnivores. The distinguishing features of a carnivore/predator (that’s you) are forward facing eyes (for binocular vision) a forward posture (for pouncing) and paws/hands/claws that face forward for grasping the prey. Therefore, when you are addressing these prey species, you want to be conscious of what your predatory eyes and hands are doing.
The recommendation here, then, is to come at the chicks with a “claws backward” attitude. Huh? What? That is to say, offer the chicks the BACK of your hand when you come down to meet them. They have a HARD WIRED instinct to run/hide/fight your hand if that hand comes in with the fingers/claws extended in the natural position (we are predators). So when I drop my hand down into the chick zone, I have my grasping/claw/fingers inverted down into a non-predatory position (palm down); I even slip it down the side of the box, so the palm is never pointing at the chicks (again, you always have the problem of coming at them from above, hawk-like, so come in slow and mellow). Let the baby chicklings peck at this non-threatening creature. Let them explore it, jump up on it, take a ride on it. No problem, it’s just a big, non-grabbing hunk of flesh (ooh, with wormy hairs to peck and explore, yea! appealing! One of them pulled a splinter for me last night!) If you reach down and grab a chick every time, with those grasping claws/fingers, then they start to associate human contact with constriction and “discipline”. Chickens do not like that. (Neither do I; ew, ick, constriction). You want to make things fun for them when they experience human contact. For the first days, especially, you just want to stick your hand in there, palm down, and just “bump” them, and caress them, and come in from below to pat/very gently caress their bellies. You are a big, warm and calming influence if you do it right. Chicks do NOT like to be petted from above (oppressive/dominating), so stay away from those pretty new wing feathers and the downy backs- they will hate you for that. Just caress gently around the breast and legs, and if they peep and run away, let them go. Later, put your hand down there, and let them come to you: let them peck at you, get used to you. Talk to them, they are listening. You’ll know when they are used to your big fat ugly oppressive fingers, they will come to YOU,, when they start jumping on the back of your hand voluntarily, then you can start lifting them up for a “chicky ride”. I’ll say that again: you LET THEM hop up when they are ready for a chicky ride. Don’t force yourself on the birds; they WILL remember, and they won’t like you for it. Always make it “their idea”, then you can get away with many things.
The Non-Predator finger postion-It works!
So here is the picture: palm down, touch the chicks lightly from below (belly, feet, legs, etc). Once they get used to you, they should start hopping onto your hand just for fun. After that, it’s “chicky rides” all day long.
Make it their idea to get up there...
Like here, Stella has crawled up my arm, but there is no grasping or clutching on my part. She is perfectly capable of maintaining her balance (at the moment). I just let her explore, then lower her back into the brood hutch when the time comes. Now, she did try a take a “flying leap” the other day, and I did my best to cushion the fall, get her back into the brood box, etc. I had to scoop her up and she wasn’t liking it, and for the next hour, she didn’t like me (no physical harm, chicks are tough). Fortunately, chickens do not normally hold a grudge, but if this happens every time, they will remember. So especially in these early days, try and make every experience positive for the chicks. They will turn out more mellow, cooperative and productive if you take care of the little psyches in the early stages. Talk softly, let them know you are coming, move slowly, everything is OK=happy, well adjusted birds.
Update-Postscript 5-30-2012: Do not confuse horses with chickens. After reading a bunch of columns from the “Horse Whisperer”, it becomes clear that horses are a lot bigger than we are, and occasionally, you need to show them who is boss. That is not going to work with chickens-you start off as the bigger, meaner, “boss”, and so you actually need them to get OVER that. You need to show them that you can be gentler, kinder and more forgiving than even the other little chickens in the pen. THEN they will love you. No fear= good chickens. Again, this is HARD WIRED BEHAVIOR, and it is up to you to work around it (you ARE the smart one, right?)
Great stuff RG! This is just the kind of info that needs to be out there for all those new urban chick owners. I well remember (and still deal with) the incongruity of the available information in the “poultry books” (chicks droopy? Cull! Chicks sneezy? Cull!) opposed to the tender care we want give to these cute little pets that we love and name and cry over when they die 8 years later, two years after laying their last egg.
I was thinking about your theory today when putting my hens away. They are very “eggy” and also “presenty”. It is interesting that they are really asking for the “predator” approach when they present. Another example of how sex and danger are forever linked I guess.
Monsieur BB! Always a pleasure to hear from you, sir. (BB and CW are loyal viewers (and my best friends in the world) who refreshed their flock last year, and I will be stealing A LOT of their techniques when it comes time to integrate the old birds with the new; thanks for paving the way kids!).
Yes, it can be confusing when you read “the books”. The canons that are out there tend to be influenced by extension service pamphlets, circa 1958. Don’t disregard the advice, it is valuable stuff that is the result of many generations of chicken wranglers- there is much to learn there. However, the backyard flock (4-8 birds) is a different situation compared to the layer barn with 10,000 birds. Let’s say you have 10,000 birds and eight of them have the sniffles? Goddamnitalll, you get those birds out of there-kill, cull, burn the carcasses- it’s pure German utilitarianism (the needs of the many out weigh, etc…..) For us backyard chickeneers, however, we’re just trying to break even on the fifty bucks worth of food,chicks, and gear. We actually can not afford to lose time on culling and starting over, and we have the advantage of specialized attention to each and every chick/personality/health care. As backyard growers, we have the opportunity to evolve a new set of techniques, where diagnosis of a problem doesn’t start with “necropsy on fifty birds”.
I’ve always assumed that the “presentation” pose was a sexual response to the rooster (or the chicken owner). The hens hunker down, basically asking for you to rub their tails, (oh yeah, baby baby…) and then afterward (if you do it right), they get up and walk away with a big ole orgasmic feather fluff. In this case, (30 weeks after hatching) they do respond to a “finger forward” hand gesture (how else can I grab that feather duster and wiggle it?). Last year, a viewer suggested that this was actually a broody/protective behavior, as if the hawk was coming down, the hen spreads her wings, and calls her chicks to take cover under the wings. Having never seen protective hens with a brood being attacked from above, (and this is a documented behavior) I am not qualified to dismiss this theory. However, I (think) I know sex when I see it. I think we are talking about two separate behaviors that bear a resemblance to each other. (Why the “orgasm” afterward if this is a broody/protective instinct? And none of my birds have exhibited much “broody” instinct.)
For the new chick owner, this is all WAY down the line (sexual maturity is about 22 weeks away). Right now, the little darlings have all instinct, and near zero learned behavior, and that’s where I am starting from. I just want some really mellow chicks who aren’t afraid of me. Later, you can actually use the fingers/claws forward to herd them around. You don’t have to be grabbing at them, just turn those grabbing fingers toward the (now mature) chickens, and they will instinctively move away from that motion. No big deal, you just spread arms/fingers, and they’ll move right away from you (I’m thinking of early morning when I am trying to get them back in the pen). And this goes back to the “Horse Whisperer” thing. I really recommend you study what he is saying. Nervous beast? Let them run- show them your hands, backwards, don’t insist on eye contact. You are there, I am here. No problem. Run off your nervous energy. We have all day. No hurry. OK, now it’s time to settle down and get in that trailer. All you do is turn those hands around, but keep them close to the vest- non-threatening. Just turning the hands around can be a big step in the trust relationship with your animal. Keep those “claws” down low, close to the body, and right around your belly. The animal sees this and responds. Now that you have their attention, you can spread arms (slowly, slowly) and herd them into whatever space they need to go. Occasionally, I’ll even use the “chicken stick”, which is a 3-4 foot piece of bamboo that is only used as an extension of my arm when the chickens are playing hard to catch. I NEVER touch the chickens with the stick. I just let them see it, coming around the tree trunk/whatever, and they go the other way. They get the idea that maybe they WANT to be in the pen, they all go in, I say “Good Girls” and I lock the door. It’s easy baby, and everybody is happy and mellow.
It doesn’t work every time. You’ll always have a “runner” or a nervous Nelly who just needs a little more time and patience and work, but I think if you start out with this method, you can figure out almost any personality whether it’s a chicken, or a horse/cow/antelope/alpaca. I keep hearing that a butterfly net can be good for catching chickens, but I have yet to use one- I guess I’m nimble enough and soft enough to capture the birds without an aid. If you do resort to physical restraint, get them out of the net and calm the bird as soon as possible.
As a side note:
Do not confuse “horse whispering” with the equally popular “dog whispering”. Dogs are predators, like us, and there you need to establish dominance ( and please, by God people, ESTABLISH DOMINANCE OVER THE DAMN DOGS). But with our gentle brethren/sisters, take it easy and make it easy for the flock/herd.
J.