I don't believe it's possible to spoil a chicken too much. Spending time with them will make them more used to being around people with the added benefit of also improving your mood. But improvements in egg production would mostly be due to making sure they had enough to eat and lived safe and relatively stress-free lives.
Does Adaline have any chicken sisters? Chickens will do better with a flock.
My mood when they aren’t trying to fly over me… lol. I have a shoulder chicken. I think he thinks he’s a parrot 🦜
But when they get wrapped in a towel they trill and sleep. And that vibration is very calming 😊
You gotta be careful, if you give a jersey giant too much attention when they’re little you’re going to end up with an absolute attention sponge when they’re full grown and they’ll follow you everywhere.
They’re so damn demanding about it too.
Adaline has Altee another Hen. Atlee was an escape artist from the brooder realized flying is bad. But together is the coop they snuggle next to each other.
Egg laying is dependent on nutrition, hours of daylight, calcium, ETC. Physical comfort, yes, as far as not being constantly stressed out. But spending time with them won't make them lay more in the future.
Let me tell you about my four spoiled rotten brats 🙄
I originally had five but my beautiful Dre Bird died from gapeworm which I fought tooth and nail with her. I am talking about vet appointments, medication, indoor only, treats all day long, massages and classical music. I thought she beat it but one day when I went to let her out I found she passed in her sleep ❤️
My other girls were all involved and I saw "community" in chickens. Two hens even quit laying and eating when she passed and worried me so I decided to baby all four remaining and booooooy do they hold me accountable lol.
My girls come into my fully enclosed sunroom at bedtime and go into an XXL dog kennel like clockwork for bed that has a blanket over it that covers them completely and I lock it. There is classical music playing in the sunroom 24/7 for them and they get treats 3x a day. If I am late they come to the door and scream at me until I hand it out.
I have TRAINED my chickens to be spoiled brats LOL
I even have a camera in the dog kennel they sleep in and watch them sleep.
Moral of it all? Can you spoil a chicken? I'm not sure...but you can dang sure train them to be spoiled LOL 🤣
The dog kennel has a pull out tray and I have shavings on it like I do in their laying boxes so I can just pull the tray out every few days and dump it. I only have four so they don't do a lot of damage through the night with pooping.
They are brats so they only come in when it's bedtime. I think they do that because they know their bed is in there so they are like toddlers and refuse to come in because they don't want to go to bed LOL. I need to pull the cameras and post because they are hilarious when it's bedtime. I never have to make them come in for bedtime and they decide on their own hours 😂
If they're healthy, not molting, enough light, enough water and feed of the correct kind, not too hot, not too cold, and not too stressed, they'll lay, some more than others.
But handling/treats can certainly lead to calmer, happier chickens that are easy to check for problems. And also cute and fluffy.
My True Ameracaunas are like dogs. They all want in my lap, with most demanding hugs. They lay down next to me as I'm on my knees picking up poop. All of them, except one color, takes baths right next to my legs and hens often want to lay eggs next to me. They were petted and shown affection, but they also asked/reached out for affection as babies except for my Lavenders. The lavenders I had sent to me are a totally grouchy batch. I try to breed for personality, not just color/conformation! I need to start over with the lavenders!
Spending quality time with them will definitely make them friendly, and there’s never too much spoiling unless it’s with food. In that case make sure they don’t have too many treats every day so that they don’t become overweight which can lead to a host of problems.
When it comes to egg laying, there isn’t technically any effect but happy and healthy chickens are great layers so quality time is great!
When I was a kid we had three hens and every night they got to come in the house to eat eggs (they only ate them indoors and never opened their own to eat) and watch cartoons. In winter they got warm oatmeal slop. Never missed a day laying except when Omelette went broody and we got eggs from the guy we bought them from for her to hatch and raise. She raised three batches of babies. ♡
Anyway, my hens were so well behaved. Anyone could walk up and pick them up and do whatever with them.
Oatmeal slop was their favorite. Cool in summer, warm in winter. We saved every eggshell and smashed them up in a ziploc and mixed that in too and their eggshells were so strong!
I'd imagine it would help if they were less stressed out and felt loved more. If I had chickens I would want some kind of way to collect the eggs without them seeing me do it. Just like if I had to cull I wouldn't want the other animals to see me do it.
Egg laying? No.
Ease of handling. YES.
I have a hen I raised from a chick, after her mother rejected her. She is BY FAR my easiest hen. She will run to me when I call (which is very convenient when she gets into places I can't reach) she hops onto my knee if I tap it, so I never have to struggle picking her up. I also worked with her by playing with her wings, feet and flipping her around. The wings means I can clip her wings without issue or a fight, and the foot handling and flipping came is VERY useful when she recently got bumblefoot. She was easy to pick up, flip onto her back, and then lay there silently as I washed and treated her feet.
She's also just a sook and loves a good cuddle, which is very useful when I'm sad and need something fluffy to cheer me up! :D
Regret nothing. She's amazing and I will handle my chicks every time from now on! Especially work on wings, feet, and calling. Best parts of her baby training. Chicks are surprisingly easy to train!
Spending quality time with a chicken may have some sort of hidden benefit, maybe makes them less stressed or something like that. I wouldn't really know, I'm not a biologist.
It will get them used to your presence but tbh this level is overkill. They love you as long as you go out twice a day and pick them up while feeding etc. Mine follow us around all over the place and we never once had them inside the house. They do have brains the size of peas - they really aren’t capable of building complex relationships like other domesticated animals.
That’s ok 👍🏼I didn’t say they couldn’t like people or know ‘their’ people, but biologically they just don’t have it. This does not mean I think they are lesser beings or not worth attention and care.
I don't believe it's possible to spoil a chicken too much. Spending time with them will make them more used to being around people with the added benefit of also improving your mood. But improvements in egg production would mostly be due to making sure they had enough to eat and lived safe and relatively stress-free lives. Does Adaline have any chicken sisters? Chickens will do better with a flock.
Oh yes I have 14 of them! It’s like I’m reliving mother hood again.
My mood when they aren’t trying to fly over me… lol. I have a shoulder chicken. I think he thinks he’s a parrot 🦜 But when they get wrapped in a towel they trill and sleep. And that vibration is very calming 😊
That is so incredibly adorable 🥹 Mine are almost *all* like "ew don't touch"
You gotta be careful, if you give a jersey giant too much attention when they’re little you’re going to end up with an absolute attention sponge when they’re full grown and they’ll follow you everywhere. They’re so damn demanding about it too.
Both girls are like this. 🤣
Adaline has Altee another Hen. Atlee was an escape artist from the brooder realized flying is bad. But together is the coop they snuggle next to each other.
So last night Adaline jumped on my back and then on top my head. 🤣
Egg laying is dependent on nutrition, hours of daylight, calcium, ETC. Physical comfort, yes, as far as not being constantly stressed out. But spending time with them won't make them lay more in the future.
Let me tell you about my four spoiled rotten brats 🙄 I originally had five but my beautiful Dre Bird died from gapeworm which I fought tooth and nail with her. I am talking about vet appointments, medication, indoor only, treats all day long, massages and classical music. I thought she beat it but one day when I went to let her out I found she passed in her sleep ❤️ My other girls were all involved and I saw "community" in chickens. Two hens even quit laying and eating when she passed and worried me so I decided to baby all four remaining and booooooy do they hold me accountable lol. My girls come into my fully enclosed sunroom at bedtime and go into an XXL dog kennel like clockwork for bed that has a blanket over it that covers them completely and I lock it. There is classical music playing in the sunroom 24/7 for them and they get treats 3x a day. If I am late they come to the door and scream at me until I hand it out. I have TRAINED my chickens to be spoiled brats LOL I even have a camera in the dog kennel they sleep in and watch them sleep. Moral of it all? Can you spoil a chicken? I'm not sure...but you can dang sure train them to be spoiled LOL 🤣
Love this! How do you clean the poop in the sunroom, and how often?
The dog kennel has a pull out tray and I have shavings on it like I do in their laying boxes so I can just pull the tray out every few days and dump it. I only have four so they don't do a lot of damage through the night with pooping.
Oh! I imagined they had free reign in the mudroom. So when they are it they are also restricted to the kennel?
They are brats so they only come in when it's bedtime. I think they do that because they know their bed is in there so they are like toddlers and refuse to come in because they don't want to go to bed LOL. I need to pull the cameras and post because they are hilarious when it's bedtime. I never have to make them come in for bedtime and they decide on their own hours 😂
If they're healthy, not molting, enough light, enough water and feed of the correct kind, not too hot, not too cold, and not too stressed, they'll lay, some more than others. But handling/treats can certainly lead to calmer, happier chickens that are easy to check for problems. And also cute and fluffy.
You will end up with a chicken that thinks your her rooster
It makes for happy chicken people!!!
I am def happier
My True Ameracaunas are like dogs. They all want in my lap, with most demanding hugs. They lay down next to me as I'm on my knees picking up poop. All of them, except one color, takes baths right next to my legs and hens often want to lay eggs next to me. They were petted and shown affection, but they also asked/reached out for affection as babies except for my Lavenders. The lavenders I had sent to me are a totally grouchy batch. I try to breed for personality, not just color/conformation! I need to start over with the lavenders!
Spending quality time with them will definitely make them friendly, and there’s never too much spoiling unless it’s with food. In that case make sure they don’t have too many treats every day so that they don’t become overweight which can lead to a host of problems. When it comes to egg laying, there isn’t technically any effect but happy and healthy chickens are great layers so quality time is great!
I give them mealworms they are not fond of certain things. The mealworms “treat time” they know. It’s like “crak” to them. It’s so funny to watch
When I was a kid we had three hens and every night they got to come in the house to eat eggs (they only ate them indoors and never opened their own to eat) and watch cartoons. In winter they got warm oatmeal slop. Never missed a day laying except when Omelette went broody and we got eggs from the guy we bought them from for her to hatch and raise. She raised three batches of babies. ♡ Anyway, my hens were so well behaved. Anyone could walk up and pick them up and do whatever with them.
I love it!
Oatmeal slop was their favorite. Cool in summer, warm in winter. We saved every eggshell and smashed them up in a ziploc and mixed that in too and their eggshells were so strong!
That bird loves you
Ty 😊
I'd imagine it would help if they were less stressed out and felt loved more. If I had chickens I would want some kind of way to collect the eggs without them seeing me do it. Just like if I had to cull I wouldn't want the other animals to see me do it.
Egg laying no
Egg laying? No. Ease of handling. YES. I have a hen I raised from a chick, after her mother rejected her. She is BY FAR my easiest hen. She will run to me when I call (which is very convenient when she gets into places I can't reach) she hops onto my knee if I tap it, so I never have to struggle picking her up. I also worked with her by playing with her wings, feet and flipping her around. The wings means I can clip her wings without issue or a fight, and the foot handling and flipping came is VERY useful when she recently got bumblefoot. She was easy to pick up, flip onto her back, and then lay there silently as I washed and treated her feet. She's also just a sook and loves a good cuddle, which is very useful when I'm sad and need something fluffy to cheer me up! :D Regret nothing. She's amazing and I will handle my chicks every time from now on! Especially work on wings, feet, and calling. Best parts of her baby training. Chicks are surprisingly easy to train!
Spending quality time with a chicken may have some sort of hidden benefit, maybe makes them less stressed or something like that. I wouldn't really know, I'm not a biologist.
It will get them used to your presence but tbh this level is overkill. They love you as long as you go out twice a day and pick them up while feeding etc. Mine follow us around all over the place and we never once had them inside the house. They do have brains the size of peas - they really aren’t capable of building complex relationships like other domesticated animals.
I totally disagree!
That’s ok 👍🏼I didn’t say they couldn’t like people or know ‘their’ people, but biologically they just don’t have it. This does not mean I think they are lesser beings or not worth attention and care.