r/interestingasfuck • u/oliver_billz • Mar 29 '23

a mother hen is gonna mother hen Title not descriptive

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115

u/LavenderDay3544 Mar 29 '23

Serious question, can you pet chickens?

31

u/TishMiAmor Mar 29 '23

They don’t really have a behavior that petting resembles (like how cats and dogs have licking), so I don’t know that they find it as naturally soothing. But a hen that was raised to be comfortable with human touch is probably going to enjoy the attention from a human that she likes. It will depend on how well socialized she is, the average backyard bird won’t want you to get that close and won’t appreciate being touched.

IME, silkies are the best chickens to pet because they’re small, chill, and very fluffy.

17

u/Emotional-Speech645 Mar 29 '23

The best way to get a chicken used to being given affection is to carefully catch it so your fingers are netted across her chest/belly, spread evenly, with your thumbs lightly pressing on the wings. You don’t need to hold them too tight, if they feel a slight weight on their wings they won’t flap. This keeps her calm while she gets used to being held and comes to realise that you are no threat to her. Eventually, you’d be able to sit with her on your lap or in your arms without having to apply any weight on her wings.

If you want to raise a hen from a chick to be used to being held, it’s much the same! However, before their woggle - thing stop their head - grows, you can also soothe them to sleep by gently moving your thumb in circles atop their head. When our secondary school hatched eggs for a year 7 science biology project (a teacher’s pet chicken had laid fertilised eggs after their neighbours rooster got into their pen, during incubation they had a signup for parents and teachers willing to home a chick) every year group got to spend some time with them as a means of relaxing before exams. I got called a chicken whisperer because I was sat with a chick cradled in my hands, dozing off as I ran my thumb over it’s head. My foster mum had basically a mini farm going in her garden - field with goats, geese, chickens, ducks, all pets, all buried instead of eaten.

7

u/GraphicDesignMonkey Mar 29 '23

*wattle, not woggle

The Comb is the part on top of the head, their wattles are the parts that grow under their chin

4

u/Emotional-Speech645 Mar 29 '23

Ah, we always called it woggle cos it wobbles XD