Will constant contact with any bird lead to tameness?

[scottischicken]

This question is for any bird (chickens, ducks, pigeons, parakeets, etc)

Will constant contact and interaction with any untame bird eventually lead to the bird not being afraid of people?

Or do birds need to be handraised by people from a young age?

Also will picking up a chicken from the ground constantly everyday help make it more tame and less afraid of people? The same goes for parakeets. Will taking a parakeet out from the cage constantly everyday make it less afraid of people?

Or do you have to give treats and positive reinforcement/rewards to make the bird less afraid of you?

Basically I’m asking is any interaction with a bird on a daily basis good enough to make it less afraid of you? I am asking this because parrot trainers on YouTube state that you should not force a bird to be tame. And that you need to go at the bird’s pace.

What’s your opinion?

 

[gimmie birdies]

As far as chickens, they get friendly when they start to lay.

 

[Shadrach]

Will constant contact and interaction with any untame bird eventually lead to the bird not being afraid of people?

I would say not. The bird may bond with the person having contact but it seems that the persons status in the eyes of the bird changes; they are no longer people.

Or do birds need to be handraised by people from a young age?

Handraising from the hatch is likely to make the bird bond with you but that doesn't mean they are going to like you when they grow up, much like people.
The keeping circumstances make a massive difference. If say the bird is a house bird (yup people do keep house chickens) then the bird hasn't really got a choice about the matter. Mixed sex free rangers with broody reared chicks may prove more difficult to form the kind of bond I think you are thinking about and even then, they wouldn't have the same degree of docility as say a cat or a dog. They're smarter.

Daily interaction will make a difference but, ten minutes here and there is likey to reap ten minutes of attention back. If you lived with the chickens all bar roosting in their coop, then undoubtably you would become one of the tribe. That still doesn't make the chicken tame; it might just make you a chicken though.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

It's an individual thing. I've had birds that are several years old and they still do not like being handled despite being handled their whole life

 

[Squawkers]

That is all true. I also believe that just touching them doesn’t really do much and could make it worse. If the animal you are trying to tame is constantly touched or messed with by a person it doesn’t trust, it only makes sense that the animal will avoid that person more. It works better if you just completely ignore the animal. Then the animal will learn that you don’t mess with them, and they will trust you more. But if the animal is already tame and just doesn’t like to be touched, then getting them used to that would probably help.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

I can’t believe I am saying this, but I’m with the YouTubers on this one. However, I am a firm believer that you should never force tame any animal. Here is why, picture a complete stranger walking up to you one day and saying “Hi you don’t know me, but I am going to make you love me by force hugging you, petting your head and picking you up whenever I want.” That is exactly what you are doing when you force tame an animal. Even when I am training horses that have not been handled I do not force anything. Everything is learning how to understand their body language and what they are telling you. When you learn to work with an animal instead of against that is where true trust is. My chickens all come running over to me when they see me walking to the barn. I don’t bring treats and no they don’t associate me with food considering I just top of their feed that is available 24/7. I don’t put them in situations that make them uncomfortable and I show them through my actions on a daily basis that they can trust me. Sometimes they actually annoy me when I am constantly tripping over them or I go lay down in the grass and open my eyes to chickens staring at me lol

 

[Squawkers]

Sometimes they actually annoy me when I am constantly tripping over them or I go lay down in the grass and open my eyes to chickens staring at me lol

I totally get it you would think that after how many times they get kicked or stepped on they would learn

 

[HollowOfWisps]

I totally get it you would think that after how many times they get kicked or stepped on they would learn

It’s like their memory resets every morning I swear haha

 

[scottischicken]

I can’t believe I am saying this, but I’m with the YouTubers on this one. However, I am a firm believer that you should never force tame any animal. Here is why, picture a complete stranger walking up to you one day and saying “Hi you don’t know me, but I am going to make you love me by force hugging you, petting your head and picking you up whenever I want.” That is exactly what you are doing when you force tame an animal. Even when I am training horses that have not been handled I do not force anything. Everything is learning how to understand their body language and what they are telling you. When you learn to work with an animal instead of against that is where true trust is. My chickens all come running over to me when they see me walking to the barn. I don’t bring treats and no they don’t associate me with food considering I just top of their feed that is available 24/7. I don’t put them in situations that make them uncomfortable and I show them through my actions on a daily basis that they can trust me. Sometimes they actually annoy me when I am constantly tripping over them or I go lay down in the grass and open my eyes to chickens staring at me lol

I agree with what you’re saying but there are some people out there that treat their pets as pets and there are some people that treat their pets as humans.

 

[Squawkers]

I agree with what you’re saying but there are some people out there that treat their pets as pets and there are some people that treat their pets as humans.

That’s fair, but what are their pets? Those pets you are referring to are probably tame. There is a big difference between a tame animal and a non tame animal. If the animal is tame then yeah, hug and snuggle it. But if it isn’t tame and it wants nothing to do with you, then leave it be.