Trick baby chicks into thinking you're Mama Hen
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
- Did you know you can easily trick baby chicks into believing you're their mama hen? Here's how.
Please note when I'm "brooding" baby chicks, I only touch them very lightly. They are capable of easily walking away if they want to. Don't ever squeeze baby chicks - they are quite fragile.
The opening of this video made me want to cry. What a hard way to start life. I wish I'd found your channel sooner. I got my first chicks two weeks ago. They seem physically healthy, but they don't show any interest in me, and sometimes they're scared of me, and I think I missed the window to bond with them. These are things nobody tells you when you're getting started with chickens!
That's why I started the blog and UA-cam channel - there was so much I wish I'd known when I started out that nobody talks about. And I've found there is so much good information in the scientific literature that's never reached the backyard.
It sounds like you missed the window for imprinting, which is the easiest and fastest time to bond, but don't worry. You can still bond with them and potentially have cuddly chickens if you'd like. The best thing you can do is just spend a lot of time with them. They will likely be somewhat flighty until they start laying eggs, then they'll settle down some at that time. I'll do some more videos on things you can do down the road to bond with flighty or fearful chickens.
@@thefeatherbrain That would be great! I subscribed and really enjoy your content. It's extremely helpful for me as a beginner in the chicken world.
Get dried meal worms and feed them by hand. ANY birds can be won over with time and treats, especially chickens. They're social, curious, and like people.
Oddly I have been feeling exactly like this recently like (the opening)
I cried too 😭
the start made me cry. i’m watching this while in front of my new chicks, gotten from my local rural king. my only thoughts were “im so sorry, youre safe now.”
My daughter found a baby chick in a parking lot! She knew I wanted chickens and called me. I couldn't get a heat lamp for 3 days so I toted this tiny chick in my shirt for 3 days and slept with her in there too. She followed me everywhere ate with me snuggled because I was mama! This video is so true. I now have 5 chickens and 4 babies coming tomorrow. All were raised this way and the grown 5 are sweet. Of course my first is my baby and rules the roost!
Nice
Wow❤❤❤❤
I have an adult rooster who can quickly be calmed by being draped in one of my used shirts, or a corner of my blanket. He's got a hen of his on..but he still chose to sleep with me. Maybe he needs a little "encouragement" to join his lady. I should put a old shirt here she sleeps...hmmmm.
This is a useful video. I've learned that if I start hand brooding chicks this early and give continued attention to a selected male, he will grow up to be a friendly rooster.
This is a great video. Bought 3 'clearance' chicks they were older and I knew they weren't gonna last at the store much longer. Put them in my living room in a kennel and talked to them all the time especially when coming home from work when I would open the door I would ALWAYS say, "Hello chickens" and just chat at them for the rest of the night. Played classical music at bedtime when the tv was on. Now when they run the yard, all I have to do is yell...CHICKENS once or twice and they come to be put up in their coop. We chat every day. Sometimes I have to close the back door because they love to 'gossip' about the neighbors. 🤣
My friend's chickens are great listeners
Awwww. So heartbreaking when you put it like this. Makes me want to be there from the moment they break out.
Me too!
I got my chicks yesterday. I did the trick with my hands on them in the box because we had a 35 minute drive home and it totally worked. I'm working on imprinting right now. It's going well, they are even responding to my dip dip dip and come out from under the brooder when I say dip dip dip. Two of them are very bold and like to peck my glasses lol. Thank you for all of your wonderful videos, they are helping me through this so much!
I so love your approach to caring for these babies. It is so rare as most people are incredibly utilitarian when it comes to raising what they call livestock. You are a woman after my own heart. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful information.
I am getting chicks this week and it will be my first time. I am so thankful I found your videos.
Thank you so much for this and your course. My new batch of chicks is three months. I did as you describe to become their mama. They are now so tame and love to be around me! They have brought a lot of joy and I love to spoil them. Thank you !
This is a great information! Those poor hatchery babies, it is one thing to hear it but seeing it really drives it home. I talk to my chicks in the incubator and encourage them while hatching then talk to them after hatching. We use a stuffed animal in the brooder and spend a lot of time with the chicks close to our bodies, under a blanket or in the coller of our shirts/robe. When transporting young chicks I take a little hand warmer packet under a towel they stay warm quite a while. Seems to be working well so far. Some are still very affectionate others don't particularly like being handled but they tolerate it really well. I did the same thing with my quail and most of them aren't super happy about being handled but they allow it and one of them actually comes when he is called and is really good being held. This stuff really works.
That's wonderful you start talking to your chicks before they hatch! Studies show they start imprinting on voice while they're still in the egg.
glad i've found your channel, just started to practice natural backyard farming, mama hen just got her new born babies, one of the most sensible video's i've ever watch. thank you for sharing this.
A truly caring human being!! Rare❤️🙏
It's a year later, I have a new batch of chicks, and this is working phenomenally well with them too. So anyone that's watched this video before, just do it. It works.
This is very helpful! Just got some orpingtons and watched this as soon as i got them from the brood
I just ordered from Dunlop yesterday. I'm in Nampa, Idaho. We drive thru Horseshoe Bend several times a year and we run the trails nearby in our Jeep. So excited to start my chicken journey. I had ducks and geese that imprinted on me in the past.
So glad you're buying local! Your chicks will thank you for it! Best of luck, Patti. Maybe I'll run into you on one of the trails one of these days.
OMG, LMAO LOVE IT!!! She's so beautiful:) I had no idea, and the info made me cry:( Gonna try it all and thanks so much! New subscriber from Florida.
I missed the first day window, but their third night with us they’d recovered from being mailed and one would get up every hour and a half and…yell. The next night I found a clip of “mama chicken puts her babies to bed” and played it while I moved their heater over to their sleeping area and gently shooed them over to bed. They stayed and slept quietly all night! I play a clip of “mama hen calls her babies to eat” first thing in the morning, use the eye contact trick, and now when I open the side of the brooder they all come run into my lap. The one that had been yelling is always first and stays longest - she was looking for her mom! I haven’t heard any distress peeping since.
Notes:
Bedtime and “morning” at sunrise and sunset. They’re in a turtle cage, so there’s a separate “inside sleeping” area. I really want them in the habit of going inside to sleep!
Thats what i did with my chicks when we got them, i put my hand in the box and covered them up. Usually, ill also put them in my lap and put a blanket that smells like me over top of them while i work on my laptop to keep them warm. The chicks already love seeing me and ive even started making clucking sounds to let them know its feeding time lol
I've got 4 human babies and am expecting our fifth in May. I am using my baby wrap with a wash cloth inside to keep my baby chicks close to me. No loud chirping, just little trills every once in awhile and sleeping chickies! I hate that i dont have the space right now to have a broody hen hatch eggs, but hopefully this is the next best thing for them. Thank you for your video😊.
my little babies are so cute, when i hear one crying i rush to them to calm them down, and they’re so cute looking at me with their little eyeballs 😭
My new baby chicks are now fully featherd out, not only do they follow me, they fly up to my shoulders, I have never had chickens do this.
Aren't they fun when they're like that? They're also way easier to catch...
@@thefeatherbrain I stick out my hand and they come lol
This is so true! I been raising chicks for few years and never thought of it this way! Every morning I would tell them good morning baby girls. Gave flick of 10 polish silkies to my friend I had for a year. She said she couldn’t handle them but they are friendly. I went to her house 2 months later and yelled good morning girls! Everyone of them came to me and I picked each one up like I always did. Made me said I let them go! After 6 months she was able to handle them as I did. You got new follower! Love your videos!
Thank you so much for this video! I wish I found it before our chicks were 8days old, but at least tomorrow we will make it better thanks to you 🙏🐔✨
This video is really helpful. Not many people give this kind of advise.
I have a Silkie that hatched 3 babies and they were with their mum for about 1 week or so? And I became like their step mother because when they were took out I only managed to get 2. 1 was small and quiet but another was bigger and kept crying. I calmed them down my picking then up in my hands and warming them up with my breath. The next day I could get the 3rd one and I realized that they didn't get enough food. So now I would take the chicks out, calm them down and they actually get bigger because they're in a box with food and I'm near them and watching over them. I don't let them out because they might get bit my something which sadly happened to one of the previous batch of 3 chicks. I think putting them to sleep is good because in my case the chicks were very cold and my holding them in your hands and warming them up with your breath makes them warmer and they will start to accept you like a 2nd caretaker
I had this cute little chick grandma found her the other day, it was raining hard and she was left alone in the rain, grandma said maybe I she'd be fine after getting dry and I decided to take care of her because she looks fragile
So nice of you to look out for that baby. Hope she does well!
im currently hatching some of my own eggs to sell. if i hear a peep or see an egg rocking in the incubator, it immediately goes into my brooder box (i make sure its a proper temp and humidity of course) and i make sure to stay home that day so when they peep i can whistle to them and gently rock their eggs. as soon as theyre dry and able to walk, they get held multiple times a day and when they arent held they have the option of a brooder or a heat lamp. if im going to be gone for a long time in a day i call someone to go stand in the room to at least speak to them and whistle to mimic their cheeping. talking to and mimicking babies of all species is SO important for them to bond with people and to become friendly, happy, and most importantly, healthy (both mentally and physically). as i type this im sitting next to my brooder talking to my 2 pipped eggs. in the brooder there is also a mirror so that if one chick hatches much earlier than the other, they can see "another chick" and not feel lonely. of course whether they see the mirror or not i talk to them the whole way through. if i have to leave i often place my phone near or inside the brooder playing mama hen noises for them and i also place any free standing stuffed animal in there for them to hide underneath like they would with a mama. i love my babies very much, even if im not keeping them they deserve so much love and kindness :) this video is loaded with great tips and you wont regret following the steps. nothing will ever fill your heart with more joy then cupping your hands and watching 5 baby chicks all rush over to cuddle up in there.
Beautiful! Chicks actually imprint on mama hen's voice while they're still in the egg - so your chicks are getting a special experience from you that, sadly, all hatchery chicks lack. Sounds like you really know your stuff and love your birds. Great ideas here! :)
I have an incubator and hatch some chicks yesterday and a couple of them imprinted on me as soon as they hatched and follow me around
That's a pretty rough looking mamma. Looks like Frost bite and mud/poo on her comb.
I talk to my babies in the incubator and talk to them and snuggle them after they are born. In the brooder I take them out often and let the kids hold them as well.
We're getting eggs for this very reason! I've got 7 human babies....works the same way with animal babies! Great video! TY
Where can I find those fluffy gloves? They look like a must have for baby chicks but I can't seem to find anything like them on amazon.
They're not gloves - it's a puppet - amzn.to/3nqgzqD
I have two week old chicks who all come to my voice , they all come for a stroke on their fronts but if i attempt to pick them up by waiting for them to walk onto my hand they completely freak, how do I go about holding them? I need to check for past butt and their feet
Hi Louise - I just posted a video on this topic here - ua-cam.com/video/WdIEogscr8g/v-deo.html
I was looking for a way to get rid of this one chick thats following me. There were some children that were playing with some chicks and one of the chicks decided to follow humans and not their mom. Their mom attacks them when she sees them now because it left the mom. I put the chick under the mom but every morning it cries out loud infront of my door and i dont have time to take care of it. How do i make it so it doesnt see me as its mom? I pushes it around with my fingers since it sees my fingers as head to stop it from following me but it kept on getting up and running after me. What do i do?
Chiki and pie made me cry for following me and protecting from my dog and cats ❤
I’m about to have at least 10 new baby ducks in my backyard, any suggestions? Mommy is sitting on them now, but they have not hatched. I wouldn’t mind keeping them for a while.
But what if you go to school when your chicks?
I am so glad I saw this now.
You live in Horshue Bend?? My dad had a cabin up by Crookshank Rd, i loved visiting there. i wanna move there eventually. Im in twin falls right now. I just got my first 4 chicks! wasnt able to imprint sadly. Next time!
Cruickshank Road is beautiful! We are moving a little further North of Horseshoe Bend this summer so we'll be in the woods/mountains soon too. Hope you are able to move out... Even if you missed imprinting, if you spend a lot of time with them, they'll get tame - may take several weeks or months, but it's worth it. :)
We saw a hen kick out a chick and felt bad so thank you
Jesus Christ that's a lot to unpack there
Can u please help me! I just got a baby chick and whenever i carry her or even hold her she will start flying out of the box and hide under my couch😢
I hatched 2 eggs from a farm in my house, and they keep following me. Even when I go to my bedroom, they follow me everywhere.❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉😊😊😊
How do you make baby chicks like you if they were born with a hen
Depends. if the hen likes you, it'll be easy
Could I use your video and repost it on my Facebook??
Please feel free to repost any of my videos at any time. :)
Best,
Bri
@@thefeatherbrain Thank you. I will be putting this in Vermont Quail FB... 👍🏻👍🏻
Love your channel info...the natural way is always the best and most successful
Oh my goodness I didn't know this! My chicks are 2 days old and I have been holding them and talking to them but should be doing it more because they are still scared. I hope it's not too late.
what do i do if I work full time and don't have any time to bond with my bird? I only have 2 days off a week and that itself is barely enough time to bond with her (I plan to get one chick as a pet). What do you suggest?
If you're a calm sleeper you can spend a lot of time with them by literally sleeping, my quail chicks were sleeping in my armpit the first few nights because they'd peep so much I couldn't sleep. This way all of us got some sleep
@@Orcling I'm not a big guy, but i move around a lot during my sleep. I can try it though. Thank you for the response!
I do really love your videos because of your deep understanding of chickens and your love for them. I can feel that you really give your best to give them a happy and species-appropriate life. Thus I don't understand why you don't let all your chicks hatch and grow up with a chicken mama, and suggest to bond them to a human being. It's not the same for them at all.
For a human baby it would be much better to be taken care of a chimp monk than be fed by a machine, but it's not the same like a human mother either.
Additionally, if chicks are imprinted to a human person, the can not spend 24/7 time with her and make body contact day and night whenever they want. They are seperated from her "human mother" again and again, experiencing constant loss (so most of them will rather bond to their siblings, which can't give them the same warmth and holding).
All my chicks are growing up with mother hen in the middle of my flock, being taken loving care by her about 11-12 weeks. She teaches them everything, walking around with them outside from day 2 after hatching. You can see that their mother is so important for them, like at us humans. They grow up beloved, calm, healthy and social from the beginning. And they are embedded into the flock's social network from day 1, when the other members of the flock come to greet them with deep eye contact.
(And of course you can hatch every breed you want by buying fertilized eggs.)
May I ask respectfully why you decided to let chicks grow up without mother hen?
Great. I'm 1 minute 40 seconds in and crying. We hatched some babies and bought some babies and now I'm a little sad that even though I handled them multiple times a day very young I wasnt holding them THIS close or paying close attention to their cries. We have about 100 chickens 80 of which I raised and though they flock to me and mostly calm when held they dont climb in my lap or anything although there's a few who are content to perch on my shoulder when I place them there myself. So I would say I did an "Ok" job but my goal is definitely to do this method next time we have babies. We have a few we found under our (parked)car 11 days ago that I'm going to maybe try cuddling with more tomorrow and see if that helps this lot at least. I never knew I would love chickens so much I feel a little crazy but their personalities are so much more than I ever expected
Thank you for all of you're lessons my chicks grew into roosters and they love me and i love them dearly but unfortunately there time has past
Wow you are Amazing at studying them 😊 Awesome …!
I hope you have kids of your own cause you are a great mama
I wish! Wasn't in the cards, but thank you so much! :)
Great content! Learning a great deal here. Thanks for the info!
What if mum goes after you every time you try to touch the chicks? Last year we had young chicks for the first time, the mother wasn't so tame she came from a brooding farm and she would get very agressive if I went any where near the babies!
If your chicks are being raised by a mama hen, rejoice! That's the absolute best thing for them! If mama says back off, I would back off. If you want to be able to bond with chicks raised by a mama hen, I advise next time around using a tamer hen to brood.
I got many chicks, but they grow fast when we raise them but something terrifying happened... My family is killing them and im too sad:(
Is it weird to breath on baby chicks like with warmth asking for a friend
If you ever get an answer lmk
Its a known fact that chicks hatched artificially (heat lamps) develop physically & mentally much slower.
This isn't my opinion, its factual.
I'm buying breed stock to bred our own based on these articles & tests.
I do love making my own chirp sound when I greet my chicks... every time they see me.
Scientists are constantly trying to improve artificial incubation methods and rearing, but so far, nothing can compete with a mother hen. And I doubt anything ever will.
Where do you get the mama hand gloves
I bought mine off Amazon - you can see it here - the Folkmanis puppet - www.thefeatherbrain.com/blog/chick-puppets
I just found your channel a few weeks ago. Last October, I hatched a single chicken because the hen who brooded this and 3 other eggs gave up and stepped on one egg and broke it (there's a developed chick in it). The other 2 eggs were not viable. I hatched this last one using 40w bulb in a mixing bowl in my office (I work from home). I didn't know what to do to this chick but it seemed to like it when I put it on my lap and put a terry wash cloth, dry, over it. Then when it got bigger, I put it on my clavicle. If I'm not working, I would put it on my lap and bent my upper torso over. These were the surest way it stopped crying. Unfortunately, since he's a single hatch, there's no other chickens of his size - I finally learned that it's a male chick (I called him BoPeep), I had to give him away.
BoPeep sounds wonderful. Sorry you weren't able to keep him!
This helps me but..... does anyone know she has the peter chin
question, will this still work if they are only a week old?
The imprinting period is only open for the first few days of life. They are harder to tame after that but it can still be done. The more time and attention you give them, the better.
Thank you for enlightening people
Thank you for all the info. Very helpful video👍
Am I the only one that thought my phone turned off when it turned the screen black lol
Lol never crossed my mind that might be the way it was perceived when I made the video. :)
I hatched my own babies I can't stand the thought of the mail or the supply store I like to know I'm the first thing they see
with this much do you eat them when time come?
I don't, but you certainly could. They'll be happier chickens during the time they're alive.
I’m not gonna cry I sweat
What if they are a week old already?
Too old to imprint, but if you spend a lot of time with them, you can build a strong relationship.
The heart start in life. They have a nice life.
I just got my chicks 🐥 a couple of days ago I do talk to them and pick them up to much lol loved your video wish I had found it before I got my girls but I’m spoiling them just the same as their bigger sisters lol
I have a almost 2 weeks chick, She is called monster and she is soo cute! And I would like to train her to follow me! I wanna feed her and always cuddle her!
I sang Little Bitty for the hour ride home. They loved it!
I love that! :)
That is why I don't use incubators for hatching eggs😊😊😊
i love the vid such a good discrepition of how to make them love you!
I once had a duck that tough i was there momma
This is awful. We are horrible to them.
Right this lowkey made me sad
Yeah the video doesn't start until over halfway and I would just skip this one and watch another 1
I’m happy that I bought some chicks from tractor supply
I’m sure it will work just as well as my upcoming quail chicks this will be our second batch unfortunately the first batch I don’t think I had imprinted on them really so I’m definitely going to try!❤
very good video nice to see+
I wish I'd seen this months ago.
I wish I'd known it years ago...
@@thefeatherbrain this really happens when like you don't know something you're doing so hard but when you know the trick you reall get the feelings in you're past life.
That is WHY we must NEVER BUY THEM 😭
I save my babies' lives because their chicken mom did not take care of them . Named them Godzilla, who looked at me with her little eyes and layed her long neck and head on my hand . Made me fall in love with chichens then theirs Raven , Killer, who turned out to be a rooster in the end . My babies are spoiled rotten and live with me in my house . They are family members. I don't even eat the eggs because that would be like eating my grand babies .
The funny thing is I accidentally did trick my chick in to thinking I’m it’s mama, I was spending a lot of time with it more then I did with our others because we had ordered eggs and only 2 hatched one on the 2 died because it had a leg problem and couldn’t walk forward when it try to it alway walked backwards
I also imprinted on my next batch of four hens They were baby chicks my first six I did not watch this video😢
5:02 ❤❤❤
You are loving person
Abolutely young a possible. The sooner, the stronger they will imprint. you talk to them, give them "warms" and teach them to eat, and drink. wE carry the in a pouch around our necks against our bodies when they are really small. They go to a brooder at night; but are eager for touching the next morning! You become mommy. First human foods they taste are pre chewed. It's a heavy commitment but worth it; the more time you spend tending them in their early weeks, the more committed they are to you as adults. Thank you!
Aaaawww ❤ poor Lil babies
Smartest
6:42 pervy sage from naruto reincarnated into a chick
Why are all my giant chicks so mean to Lil peep? he is a very tiny chick.
I’m 10 years old why do you not just get baby chicks from your hen’s wouldn’t it be a lot easier than having the 1 Hour Drive By the way my name is Rosie
Hi Rosie! My hens don't go broody, so they won't actually hatch or raise any chicks for me. But you are right, a true mama hen is the best mama for a baby chick. Although, I do have a lot of fun raising them myself!
Doesn’t spackle girl Rudy once a year why can’t you have her raise chicks 🐣
Im crying bc my chicken died too day😢😢😢😢😢😢
By this method how would you apply to 1000 or 5000 chicks.
I don't think you can.
U can't
I needed this cuz I just got chicks lol
I have a chick that has imprinted on me S/he is driving me insane 😆
My hair is a bird nest right now quite literally yep I have an inconsolable little one I placed on a Swiffer dusters and held it against me it only calmed down once it crawled up under my chin, behind my ear and into my hair it slept finally all night. It came from the hatchery via USPS sleeping on top a dead bonus chick they had sent so I’m sure that was stressful. My post office isn’t known for their gentleness
Poor thing - so glad you are taking good care of her!
Two. True for me to stare at a chick.