Lapinou Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 At least two of ours are laying now, and possibly the third, although we're not entirely sure - it may be she's just laid one and is having a break while the other two have laid daily from the day they started. However, we have noticed a dramatic difference in how tame they are since they started laying. All three of them now let our three frantic children stroke them and today, DD2 (who is 3.5) spent the afternoon picking them all up one by one and carrying them to another place in the garden. I went to stop her at first, and then realised how calm they were in her hands (arms are too small to cradle them the way you're meant to) so they obviously don't mind being picked up by little hands. DD1 has picked up one or two of them too but isn't quite as brave as DD2. DD3 keeps trying to copy the older two but is not gentle However, the chickens really don't seem to mind! They are just so tame - way calmer than they were before they started laying. So take heart, newbie chicken owners, the time may well come when you suddenly realise that they like being cuddled. Until they got consistently easy to handle, we just used lots of bribes when we needed to get them in the run so it wasn't an issue with them free-ranging either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gracefruit Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 This is very good news. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilly Bud Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 Exactly the same thing happened to me. I'd only had my chickens 2 weeks when they started to lay and now i get an egg everyday! They are much more tame and come running over to me everytime they see me, letting me stroke them and pick them up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieSB Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 Oh I wish that would happen around here! I have a 3.5 year old who is now banned from the chicken enclosure, after weeks of chicken mithering, and finding him last night in the garden, in nothing but his underpants and wellies, holding a fishing net above his head, whispering, "Come 'ere chickies... Come 'ere chickies..." -- "What are you doing, sweet light of my life," I ask. "Hunting chickens." -- they'll never be tamed at this rate. More like die of fright. Can I borrow your three for a week to tame mine?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lapinou Posted July 31, 2008 Author Share Posted July 31, 2008 Oh I wish that would happen around here! I have a 3.5 year old who is now banned from the chicken enclosure, after weeks of chicken mithering, and finding him last night in the garden, in nothing but his underpants and wellies, holding a fishing net above his head, whispering, "Come 'ere chickies... Come 'ere chickies..." -- "What are you doing, sweet light of my life," I ask. "Hunting chickens." -- they'll never be tamed at this rate. More like die of fright. Can I borrow your three for a week to tame mine?! I do worry that the children are over-doing it a bit, and I have to keep a very close eye on them, but I tend to keep the chickens in the eglu run for longer each day so they get a chance to not be fussed around with for a while! Can you teach your 3.5yo how to pick them up so he does that instead? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieSB Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 Can you teach your 3.5yo how to pick them up so he does that instead? Oh, he has tried, but my three gals are flighty. One will stand for petting if she is eating treats off your knees at the same time. But the other two aren't having it. And my son thinks that all animals are like his dog, rough, tumble and willing to chase sticks. He is flumoxed over the fact that the chickens won't chase sticks he throws across the lawn. -- oh, well, he's getting older by the minute. He'll figure them out soon. My job is just to keep him away from that fishing net until he does! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocolatedog Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 Hmmm - Ginger is the only one of our 3 girls who will let you pick her up and cuddle her. Hubby can catch Pepper (or used to be able to soon after they'd first arrived - I've never been able to catch her.....) and Spice (meant to be docile - yeah, right...) is the flightiest and I've only ever been able to handle her when she's been broody and I've had to lift her off the nest and deposit her outside the eglu.....and then she trots off round the garden bawking at the top of her voice telling the whole neighbourhood how cruel I am....!! the rest of the time, forget it! We had to herd her and Pepper into a net to catch them to take them to our friends when we went away on holiday.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
