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| One of three Ameraucana Chicks purchased from a farm store. She is the smallest. Photo by Tracey R. Simmons 2017 |
I have been a chicken keeper since
2014. Some may say that is not a long time; or that I don’t have much
experience, but one thing I did, before getting any chicks, was read/research
as much as I could find at the time. For me, this research was in the form of
books. I know for a fact that this sets me apart from a lot of others who get
chickens who know nothing about their care before buying them. As a former
licensed wildlife rehabilitator and an avid animal lover/rescuer all my life,
one thing that bothers me are the number of people who get an animal without
any prior knowledge of the proper care of said animal.
I have extensive knowledge and
experience in animal care, but I will never say I am an expert, because there
is always room to learn more. My experience has helped me ponder and figure out
a situation I have recently observed. I have a theory when it comes to chicks
purchased from hatcheries that are mailed directly to you, and those chicks at
farm stores that have been put into large brooder tanks waiting for humans to
purchase them, which can be days, even weeks.
What is my theory? I believe it all has
to do with imprinting, and that time period being longer than what some researcher
According to www.dictionary.com, “Imprinting – rapid learning that occurs during a brief
receptive period, typically soon after birth or hatching, and establishes a
long-lasting behavioral response to a specific individual or object, as
attachment to parent, offspring, or site.”
www.medicinenet.com has this to say: “Imprinting psychological: A remarkable
phenomenon that occurs in animals, and theoretically in humans, in the first
hours of life. The newborn creature bonds to the type of animal it meets at birth
and begins to pattern its behavior after them. In humans, this is often called
bonding, and it usually refers to the relationship between the newborn and its
parents.”
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| The darkest Ameraucana chick. She has blue legs and feet. Photo by Tracey R. Simmons 2017 |
As a wildlife rehabber, I was taught
about imprinting. I know that the time period that an animal can imprint is
controversial. Some say it is only a few hours after being born or hatched.
Others say it is thirteen to sixteen hours. Another researcher states it is
thirty hours, and there are still more time frames stated.
I believe imprinting can have various
factors, which can cause the time period to fluctuate, which is what I have
seen with my chicks. I believe that window of opportunity to have your chicks
imprint to you, bond with you can still be open several days after the chicks have
hatched.
With my mail ordered mystery chicks, I
now have experience-buying chicks both ways; previously I purchased them from
farm stores. I noticed something right away with the mystery chicks – they were
friendlier than the ones I’ve gotten from the farm stores. I mentioned this to
the work friend who had ordered the chicks. She said she agreed. This set into
motion my desire to figure out why.
With the mystery chicks, I could put my
hand in the brooder box, wiggle my fingers and the chicks would come running to
my hand. They loved/love to hear me say, “Hey, chick, chick, chick.” These
things started on day one – several hours after I’d let them have time to
rehydrate, eat, warm-up, and settle in after being shipped in the mail. When
these chicks were/are picked up, they peep with contentment, and love to be
petted and held. Now that they are older and outside, I can let them out in the
yard and call them back to their house. Plus, they stay close to me.
Nearly two weeks ago, I purchased three
Ameraucana chicks from a farm store. This has allowed me to have a current
view and comparison of both ways to buy chicks. Instantly, I noticed the farm
store chicks showed great fear of just seeing my hand, or hearing my voice.
When picked up, their peeps were/are of alarm, rather than contentment. They
struggled against being picked-up/held, with only small progress shown in this
area up to this date.
My “mystery chicks” came from Murray
McMurray Hatchery. According to a McMurray phone rep, Kim, these chicks are put
into the mail within an hour or two of hatching. Straight-run chicks would be
boxed up the quickest. If you order pullets (females), the time would put them
closer to the two-hour mark, because they have to be sexed (determined whether
they are males or females) prior to being boxed up and shipped.
In the case of the mail-order mystery
chicks, they had time to view humans before being shipped, yet they are not
bonded with those hatchery humans. I believe the shipping time, inside of a
box, might be kind of like being put back inside an egg-shell waiting to hatch,
allowing the chicks to then view the human (me) that immediately started taking care of
them in a quiet home as their mom – imprinting/bonding, even though it was well
past the various time spans stated for imprinting.
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| The third Ameraucana chick. Photo by Tracey R. Simmons 2017 |
When it comes to getting chicks from
farm stores, those chicks start out with the same process at the hatchery, one
to two hours in that environment before being shipped in the mail. At the farm
stores, these chicks are put into large brooder tanks. They have food and water
dumped into containers, and left “alone.” There is no immediate close, loving
interaction with a human, and it is not a quiet environment. With some farm stores, people have access to the
brooders, so these chicks look up at, what I am sure appears to them as huge
monsters - people/kids staring down at them, grabbing at them,
in some cases dropping them, along with all the noise, and more.
Then for example, someone like me comes
along to buy three of the Ameraucana farm store chicks. Many days have past,
closing the hatching/imprinting/bonding window time. Fear is already present in
the way these chicks react. How do you bond? Or can you even bond?
I do believe the farm store chicks can
bond, but it takes more time, effort, and patience, but I also realize that
some may not despite all my efforts. What do I do? I spend time with them
everyday, holding and talking to them. When reaching into the brooder box, I leave
my hand at the chicks level and let them come near it, moving slowly to gently
touch them. I use the same phrase – “Here, chick, chick, chick” when I talk to
them. Tenderly, I pick a chick up, hold it close, stroking along her neck and
back, and talk to her.
In conclusion, I have seen the evidence
that the imprinting/bonding time with chicks can vary from what the studies
that have been published over the years, state. I believe that the shipping
process, which is the time the chicks are still absorbing the yolk, and being
inside the shipping box, has something to do with the imprinting time being
able to be delayed, if the chicks are going straight into a home. I believe
purchasing directly from a hatchery is a win-win for the humans who want to
have chicks that are pets/friends.
(I wish to thank Murray McMurray Hatchery's phone rep - Kim for answering my questions which helped in the writing of the post.) Click below to view their website.
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