will handling new chicks a lot stress them out ?

[BarredRockGirls]

hi!

this is my first time w layers ...

i had broilers back in my 4-h yrs .... um 10+ years ago lol and those are a 6-7 week project . so we didnt have to have much long term goals for . just feed feed feed weigh water. we didnt get attached to them , no names etc.

so i'm wondering if handling my chicks a bunch is a bad thing ?. my chicks are 5 day old Barred Rock pullets .. i dont want them to stress out and die or something but i would love for them to get used to me ....

every time i go in the barn to their brooder i bend down and coo cute things to them i do their feed and water and bedding then i TRY and pet or touch a few ... some are ok for a sec . sometimes i hold my palm out and one will hop on then right off it but mostly they just look at me like "who are you and what are you gonna do to us ?"

i worry about stressing them because 2 had hard poo stuck to them this morning and i read that was bad so i picked them up and with a persistance & water it came off .. but the whole time each one was peeping loudly and totally freaking out...

a few hrs later i checked on them and all are still living - one even stood there while i stroked her neck -- i think she coo'd ( does that even happen?) so i hope this mornings event doesnt end up killing the lil babes. !!

i love them all already i have names picked out just havent given them to them yet .. im waiting till their personalities show.

any tips or help would be appriecated!!!

 

[nova022]

Handling them at five days should not harm them and will likely make them friendlier when they are grown. We handled all our chicks and they are not afraid of us and are easy to pickup if they need to be checked for anything.

 

[MrsWeasley]

Don't want to hijack, but is there an age where it will hurt them to handle them gently?

 

[BarredRockGirls]

Handling them at five days should not harm them and will likely make them friendlier when they are grown. We handled all our chicks and they are not afraid of us and are easy to pickup if they need to be checked for anything.

ok thank you . i always try to be gentle . and today the one stopped peeping and just chilled out for like 2 secs when i held her .. so maybe im getting somewhere

 

[nova022]

Don't want to hijack, but is there an age where it will hurt them to handle them gently?

I don't think so. Once I pick mine up from the PO, put them in the brooder and dip their beaks in the water I let them rest and settle from the stress of the trip until the next day. After that I handle them several times a day as does my husband. I have never had one suffer ill effects from being gently handled. You really need to be able to handle them without stressing them out to check them over, treat for various reasons etc. when they get older so getting them familiar with being handled while they are young makes good sense.

 

[bugglesmommy]

Handling them at five days should not harm them and will likely make them friendlier when they are grown.  We handled all our chicks and they are not afraid of us and are easy to pickup if they need to be checked for anything.

X2

I handle my chicks all of the time and they are now pretty happy to be handled. Try holding a chick in your hand on its back and rub its bellly. My chicks go right to sleep.

Zzzzzz....

 

[BarredRockGirls]

X2

I handle my chicks all of the time and they are now pretty happy to be handled. Try holding a chick in your hand on its back and rub its bellly. My chicks go right to sleep.

Zzzzzz....

omgosh thats too funny!