imprinting.....

14 years ago

In march my husband and I pickup 20 more little baby chicks. We had to drive 5 hours with them in the back of my car. making it home with them putting them in a small cage in the basement. where they had their little heat lamp, water and food. every 12 hours they got personal treatment. My husband would got down into the basement and talk to them. calling them pretty little ladies blah blah. End of april the chickens moved outside with everyone else . As my husband placed his Now smaller ladies with the other ladies he talked to them . telling them it was ok . He had their little heat lamp , their special water mix and fresh veggies from the kitchen. after the ladies where ready to come out of the coop he opened the door and here they came. following him around the yard like he was the momma bird. Making me laugh at it.

Well today I didnt know how much they girls follow my husband around till I went out there to help him clean out the coops. Here they came . Take in mind they are Free range. they are allowed to walk freely around the barn yard and eat all the bugs they can find... We are in their coop (this springs) babies. and yet they are helping my husband making sure that their nesting boxes are just right. He walks out of the coop and to the grain room and here comes his little ladies. all 16 of them in line . he feeds them , picks up their waterer and opps they need water. He brings it into the house to feel it up. I look out the kitchen window and OMG all the chickens are right by the back door.as he walks down the hill to the coops his ladies are in line behind him. he bends down and I see this chicken lay down and let my husband pet her like she is a dog. I giggle to myself and watch him do this to each and every one of them. as he leaves the coops they follow him up to the house . what i sight. the things that are livestock does.

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Comments (7)

jomuir
14 years ago
how cute! I hope these are chickens for eggs not meat, sure would be hard to feed DH one of his ladies.

16 in a row following him, that's so sweet. We need a picture of this you know, preferably all behind your husband. Chickens need to represent, we already have dogs, cats and piggies....
mountain_lady
Original Author
14 years ago
I will get a Picture of them and him soon. No they are just egg birds. we dont plan on eating them .
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betsyhac
14 years ago
What a great story! Before I had pigs, I never realized how personable birds were. But, after being on so many pet boards to learn about my piggies, I heard a lot of really funny stories about birds from people with "farmettes." Please do post a pic if you can, I'd love to see it. (Or a movie)
mountain_lady
Original Author
14 years ago
O yes they are very funny little girls.
calliope
14 years ago
My gals are very friendly and non aggressive, even when I ran a large flock. However, they pretty much got over the 'follow mommy' routine when they got old enough to egg. However, you want to talk imprinting? Oh good grief, geese carry it to extremes. I raised several pair of geese, hatched out in my incubator and although I was their primary caretaker, and they were free range during the day, it was my husband they fell in love with.

He does most of the groundskeeping, and they were always in his face. Big geese at that. Totally curious and attention seeking. I'd hear him yell my name and he'd tell me to get my geese off him. LOL. One pair I had were during the cicada emergence year and the sky was black with them. The geese were in seventh heaven, gobbling them up. We had a large kennel I put them in at night, and poor hubby was trying to get them inside, and they were making circles around it, with him in pursuit. Between the goose poop and the cicada bodies, he slid down the hill. BTW, both pair of geese ended up rehomed. LOL.
azzalea
14 years ago
That must be SO cute!

We bought 3 ducklings one summer for pets (we live near a lake, so they move down there once grown). Anyway, DD got a Pekin, I got a Khaki, and DH got an Indian Runner. His duck imprinted SO strongly that if we let them loose in the house, it would climb up his leg and sit on his shoulder or head to watch TV with him. Outside, it would walk right between his feet as they travelled around the yard. One day he was taking the little guy for a walk--well, DH was walking, he was carrying 'Cornbread'. A neighbor going by in her car screeched to a stop beside him and called out, "That duck looks as if it LOVES you!" And true, Cornbread did love his Daddy. Once we took them to the lake, DH had to find a different way home, because if he drove his truck past the ducks, Cornbread would separate from the flock and come running to the road! Otherwise, Cornbread lived happily at the lake for many years, and--because he was the only Indial Runner there--we were able to see generations of his offspring for many years after that.
mountain_lady
Original Author
14 years ago
those are great storys. I am hoping that his little ladies love their daddy for yrs. but We will see. come spring I will add more chicks to the folk. I am looking to have about 100 birds. One helps with the bugs, but I sale some of my eggs. and free range eggs are Soooo much better then store bought. I am sure once his ladies start to egg out they will not be so loving on my husband . But I am sure that all the love he gives them they will still find him their fav person on the place.