GYO Needs your Top Tips on ..............

[sunflower]

I'm new to henkeeping. I am finding that the best time to pick them up is at dusk when they have entered the henhouse. Stroke their backs first speaking calmly, then with both hands either side to prevent their wings flapping, lift them gently out of the house and cuddle close to body chatting to them all the time. Then arm cradle and with the other hand supporting legs and tummy. If hens feel secure, they wo'nt try to get away.

[matthew2riches]

They like potato peels and they are the perfect bribe! They will do anything for them - just make sure you boil them first!

I hold them tight and firm when i have to handle them and make sure not to make them feel unsafe.

A small flock (4 - 6) is eaiser to get tame than a larger flock of say 10+ as hens like each others company and will soon plot and plan with the others against you.

Like you say Sue they do resemble little pogo sticks - put them to the test and hang pieces of pasta from the top of the cage - they go mad!!!

[janeyo]

Mine seem to know I am the boss and when I go to touch one now they squat down in submission! Don't know why they do this, presumably as I'm the one who always brings them treats. I have heard that if you have an aggressive chicken to push it down with your hand and they soon get the idea that you are the dominant one, like they would with the cockeral.
I always talk to them and thank them for the eggs! They follow me around like little sheep (we only have 3)

janeyo

[Birdie Wife]

Don't know if I should say this janeyo, but your chickens think you are the cockerel and you're about to mate them!! The squatting position is what they do when a cockerel, er, jumps on board, as it were

It's a good point though, that it's worth learning about chicken behaviour by just watching your hens as they go about their daily business. They'll get used to your company and start to treat you as one of the flock. Mine know that I come home at about 5.30pm and when they hear the gate, I get rushed by a dozen chickens who follow my every move until they get their scratch of corn!!

[Eyren]

Decide on a chicken call - clicking your tongue, calling "chook-chook-chook", or whatever feels least embarrassing! - and use it every time you go out with treats. Soon they'll come running whenever you call, which makes it easier to get them back in the run

[kirsty b]

Hi Kirsty How do you stop the chooks poo-ing all over the bench you sit on?!
I put in a plastic crate for me to sit on - no chance unless I hose it down first!! They sit and s*it on everything I put in

I don't! If it gets too mucky I use a hoe to scrape the poo off first and make sure I only sit on it if I'm wearing my crapppiest (pardon the pun) jeans.

[fiveravens]

I find the breed makes a difference too: my Light Sussex are easily handled, and my Barnvelders are too tame - they hardly come out of your way! My Cuckoo Marans, on the other hand, prefer humans at arm's length.

[MadamJoJo]

They love routine & food !! I have my first coffee of the day with the 'girls' (and George - who I constantly rebuke first thing for getting over zealous), and last beverage at dusk with them. The more they see & hear you, the more they trust you ......gently does it & you are there !!