As a chicken keeper, there might come a time that you need to catch a chicken for an inspection or other reasons. Once you have caught your chicken, there are preferred ways of handling it. By catching and handling your chickens correctly, you can reduce their stress levels and lower the chance of suffocating them, as a squashed chicken cannot inflate its air sacs to breathe.
It is best to handle chickens with care to minimize their stress and guard their breathing ability. The best time to catch a chicken is at night when it is roosting. To catch a chicken during the day usually requires patience and a catching device unless your chickens are hand-reared and trust you.
While it is amusing to watch a human chase a chicken (who is doing the most running and squawking?), it can be unnecessarily stressful for all parties involved. Thankfully, over many years of chicken-keeping and domestication, chicken-keepers have shared their methods of catching chickens. Read on to see five methods of catching and holding chickens correctly.
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Examples Of How To Catch And Handle Chickens Correctly
Chicken-keepers are quite creative when it comes to making a plan to catch and handle their chickens. Some methods are necessary but traumatizing for chickens. Below are five kinder methods of catching and handling chickens in ways that do not ruffle too many feathers.
The Different Methods To Catch And Hold Chickens Correctly
Chickens can run at nine mph, so knowing how to outsmart a chicken is helpful, especially if you can’t outrun it. It is important to note that when you have caught a chicken, you should hold it in a way that it can breathe properly and will not struggle.
You can make your life a lot easier by avoiding having to catch chickens at all. You can achieve this by interacting extensively with your chickens or even hand-rearing them. Your chickens will trust you and feel safe enough to be submissive to you. A tame or submissive hen will flatten herself as you approach, allowing you to pick her up with no fuss.
Chicken-Catching Method 1: Roosting Time
This Roosting Bar method is useful for chickens that are kept in a coop at night, and there is no hurry to catch the chicken(s) in question. When chickens go to roost, they are a lot more docile and less attentive; incidentally, that is why chickens make such good meals for night-time predators. Should you need to catch one or more chickens for inspection, this is a great time to do so.
- You will need a headlamp or a friend holding a torch, and you will need to know where the chicken is roosting.
- Approach the chicken quietly, and do not shine the light directly at the chicken as it might startle.
- When you are close enough, quickly grab the chicken from above by placing both hands over its wings, preventing it from flapping and getting flustered.
- Once you’ve finished inspecting your chicken, you can return it to the roost, and it will probably settle down again after the weird ‘dream’ it just had.
Chicken-Catching Method 2: Use A Hook Or Poultry Pole
This method requires a poultry pole (like a shepherd’s hook) with a long extension. It works quite quickly if you have scattered treats for your chickens, and they trust you enough to come close to you. While they are pecking at the scattered snacks, you can identify your chicken, and with quick action, snag it around its foot and pick it up.
It is important not to leave your chicken fluttering upside down on one foot as it will become stressed. In this video, the presenter and chicken-catcher (who, in his own words, doesn’t want to run around like an idiot) hooks a hen and, in a swift motion, holds her carefully while she calms down. His hook is made from a coat hanger.
Chicken-Catching Method 3: Entice And Act Quick
You can use this method of chicken-catching when your chicken has escaped the coop or if you have quick reflexes. An excellent treat to use in this instance is a handful of irresistible mealworms. If your chicken has escaped the coop, place the mealworms inside the doorway and stand back. Once the chicken enters, you can quickly close the door behind it.
If you have quick reflexes and your chickens trust you enough to come close to you, put the mealworms at your feet, stand still, and wait for the chickens to come closer. When your chicken is close enough, quickly bend down and grab it, pinning the wings and supporting the chicken underneath, between the legs.
Chicken-Catching Method 4: Use A Box
Sometimes you need to catch a chicken in a coop that is too big or aggressive to handle easily. Since a coop is a confined space, you should hopefully be able to corner the chicken and gently put a large enough box over it. The darkness calms the chicken (is it sleepy time already?), so you can take your time closing the flaps beneath the chicken, then turning over the box.
According to The Happy Chicken Coop, this method is useful when you need to relocate a chicken or aggressive rooster. Not only does the dark box cause less stress for the chicken, but the box also protects you from being scratched by spurs or pecked.
Chicken-Catching Method 5: Traps And Trap Nesting
Various traps are useful when you need to catch an escaped chicken or some feral chickens. One such trap is a live chicken trap*. It is a collapsible mesh trap that allows one or more chickens entrance but no exit (it sounds a bit like The Hotel California song).
How it works is that you set up the trap, place bait around it and in it, and wait. Once the chickens are inside, you pick up the trap and relocate the chickens accordingly.
A nest trap offers a cozy spot to lay eggs, but once a hen enters, the nest box springs shut, capturing the hen. The drawback is that you won’t always catch the hen you want, and old hens are less likely to use it. You also don’t want to encourage a bad association with nesting boxes because you might not find those eggs!
How To Hold Different Chickens Correctly
A chicken will take some time to calm down when being held, but you can aid this by holding it correctly. According to WikiHow, it is best to support a chicken from underneath using one hand while your other hand is on the back, pressing the chicken’s wings to its body. You can then cradle the chicken gently but firmly in your arms, ensuring not to squash it.
If the chicken in your possession is not aggressive, you can support it on your palm while it faces you and you talk sweetly to it. This way, you stay away from the poop end of the chicken.
An aggressive hen or rooster will need to face away from you due to pecking, a firm grip around the legs to stop clawing and spurring, plus pinning down the wings. You will probably get pooped on, too.
Other things you can do to calm a chicken that you are holding include the following:
- Pet your chicken and talk to it softly. She might even purr or cuddle with you if she trusts you enough.
- Place a towel over the chicken’s head, but ensure it can breathe. The darkness will calm it.
Why It Is Important To Catch And Hold Chickens Correctly
Whether you need to catch a chicken to inspect it or get it ready for a meal, the methods of catching and handling a chicken are important, not just for the chicken but for you too. You can gain the trust of your chickens by the way you handle and care for them. For example, you can treat and interact with them often without trying to catch or handle them unnecessarily.
If a chicken feels stressed or cannot breathe properly, it might worsen underlying health issues (e.g., low immune system). If you wish to catch a chicken to slaughter, its meat will be tough due to the stress of being chased and mishandled. A thoughtful and caring chicken-keeper will catch and handle their chickens humanely.
Conclusion
The correct way of catching and handling chickens is to cause as little stress to the chicken as possible. When holding a chicken correctly, you need to support it underneath, pin down its wings, and hold it firmly against you, but still protect yourself from pecking and spurring. You can calm your chickens by gaining their trust, petting them, and talking to them.
