How to catch and hold chickens?

When you start your flock, you will always need to learn how to catch and hold a chicken. This should be fairly easy, once you're onto chicken psychology.

First of all, the best way to catch chickens is at night after they've gone to roost as, when they are asleep, you can come in and you can pick one up very easily.

Later, as you get to know your flock, they will get used to you and are will become used to being handled and it can be a simple matter of reaching down and picking one up anytime during the day.

But, to catch a less friendly or newly arrived nervous chicken, it’s a little more difficult. The best thing is to corner it in the coop or against the fence and grab it either by the legs or by clamping both wings down. If you have a small coop, you might chase the chicken in and shut the door so that it will have less space in which to manoeuvre.

At all times, It is best to move rapidly but deliberately, rather than to run or lunge suddenly. If the chicken gets frightened, it may fly up into the rafters, into a tree, or over the fence. It's sometimes easier to catch a chicken when you have someone help you. On the other hand, someone who is not used to chickens is often worse than useless, so be warned!  It’s probably better for novices to stand out of the way and watch and learn.

There are other methods of catching chickens. Some people use long handled nets or hooks with which to snare the chicken's leg, but frankly it’s simpler and more humane to catch them by hand, so try learning to catching and holding chickens by hand before resorting to accessories.