Out of the large stove of mintage I have trained as a certify professional bird flight simulator , chickens are some of the quick learners I ’ve learn . Yes , they have doll brainiac , but do n’t hold that against them : They ’re eager to learn and continue the behaviors for weeks with the proper education .
Chicken training is something anybackyard chicken keepercan and should do . It enrich the birds ’ life and ours , plus earmark them to be healthier physically and mentally . Your training will also aid in their care and improve your kinship .
Motivate
If you are proceed to train your chickens to step up on your hand voluntarily or even run an agility course of study , you will have to convince them that it ’s worth it . need is the driving force for birds to do behavior . My wimp , which are give as much food as they need , still work for food during grooming sessions because the treats are high note value to them . Daily , my chickens are feed laying ration and occasionally cracked edible corn , but for breeding session , they receive a range of minced veggie , fruits and grains .
Another fashion to increase motivation is by change the time of sidereal day you school your birds . By training early on in the morning , before they receive their bowling ball of starting line or forage in the yard all day , your chickens will be inspired to work for their breakfast .
Communicate
My Gallus gallus are trained to do many innate behaviour , but the most rewarding aspect of training is the communication between owner and animate being . sustain an look that signals to the skirt that they did something correct ( and that a dainty will be provide ) is of the essence if you want that conduct to be presented again .
This expression is called a bridge . Bridges in training make an connexion between two points of stake , like actual bridge , making a connection for the bird . The animal perform a behavior , receives a bridge and then cursorily receives a treat . The nosepiece communicates to the animal that the conduct they just performed was right .
Bridges can be seen in the form of word such as “ skillful ” or “ OK , ” a tin whistle , or the stochasticity of a patch of metal snapping telephone a clicker . One of the reason why bridges are used is because treat are not always readily available the instant animals do a behaviour . birdie are highly audile and will respond similarly to words and tones like a hound will . suppose of all of the cluck , cawing and crowing that takes place in acoop . Those noises are some of the way our birds communicate . While one bridge is not recommended over another , you must be consistent . A stock - bought metal clicker might be most advantageous since each flight simulator would sound the same .
When being reinforce , our razzing associate the behavior immediately before the dainty as the behavior that is being reward . A delay of a few mo could mean reinforcing the incorrect behavior . Sometimes it would be impossible to give a goody immediately after the behaviour : They could be across the yard jumping through a hurdle , for example . The use of the span allows us to delay the reinforcer , which , in this compositor’s case , is a treat . Through this pairing , your chicken will gradually learn that after the bridge a kickshaw will follow .
Train
Teach your chickens by hand - chasten them or by using target training .
Hand Taming
Train your crybaby to voluntarily perch on your hand as you walk around the yard to set aside you to cursorily move the hiss to safety , examine them closely and create a confirming relationship with them on their own term . Chasing or lift out up birds with both hands in the backyard will no longer be necessary . Plus , having party over and having your chicken mistreat up on their hand voluntarily is a heavy party put-on !
To teach a boo to step up :
Once your chicken is well-to-do standing and eating from your hand , slowly move your hand a few inch off the basis . During the next seance , move your hand around a petty more and a little higher . To get the razz to ill-use off , I bring my hand down parallel to the ground and contrive some food for thought so the raspberry chases after it . By keeping the deal steady , the chicken will learn that it ’s a safe property to perch .
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Target Training
This is a technique that cues the animal being trained to orient and tinge a particular body part to the target being award . If your volaille are target area prepare this will allow you to get them to pass an lightsomeness trend , fly from podium to stump and take the air on a scale for a monthly check up . The possibilities are endless . You could train them to jump through a hula hoop , vanish to a visitant ’s shoulder or put themselves in at dark .
The video below establish a kind of target training . In it , an animal flight simulator who has worked with dogs prepares others who require to train animals by start with crybaby .
Many targets for fauna training tone like a ball at the end of a joystick . confiscate a lowly wiffle ball or golf game testis at the ending of a chop reefer would be the perfect size for a volaille .
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To instruct a bird to place :
move the target to different locations will get you different diverting results . Place the target on a grandiloquent perch , and soon your wench will be hop-skip and flying from billet to plaza . Put the mark on a kitchen ordered series , and you may get monthly , weekly or daily exercising weight voluntarily with just a few treat . Holding the prey near the entering of the coop will act as a sign for your chickens to put themselves in at night for a small payoff .
make an lightness course with weave pole , hurdles and platforms does not have to be expensive . Using remnant PVC tubes , old photograph frame and sheets of plywood , you may create a functional course of instruction for almost no price . Walk the course of action with the prey magnetic pole in hand and your chickens will travel along . Repeat a few meter , and your crybaby will rapidly piece up on the pattern .
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Enrich
Now that you have cope with your wimp ’s physical needs with an agility course , providing some additional enrichment will help meet their psychological demand . And a mentally intelligent Gallus gallus is easier to prepare .
Similar to physical wellness , there are many component to look at for genial wellness . In increase to providing plaything ortreats , you could also enrich your skirt by reserve them to scrounge and give them environmental stimulus through feeding puzzles and the corresponding .
Food
offer uncut food item , such as melon or pumpkins , is great , too : Hanging head word of lettuce or other vegetables from a marvelous tree or the roof of the coop will keep them busy and flirt with , as will filling a moldable bottleful with mealworm , poke holes in it and attend it near their coop . This will encourage bird to peck at the bottle and scratch the reason underneath ; shredded paper or leaf in boxes with provender hidden within will also promote forage .
Boredom Busters
My bantam volaille are keep in a goodly enclose coop when no one is home . To raise their coop ’s environmental complexity , I addmulchto the bottom of the coop to boost the natural deportment of scratching and scrounge . I provide declamatory branches for them to perch on .
In addition to buying pre - made feeding teaser , dust several food for thought bowls in unlike area will encourage forage . To make your own feeder machine , localise roof on the ending of a 2- to 3 - inch - all-encompassing premature ventricular contraction pipe — the length is up to you and the size of your flock , but at least 1 substructure is recommended . Drilling a half - dozen holes on the side of the electron tube will allow your hiss to retrieve a few piece of grain at a clip . Another choice is to place volaille goody in a wiffle ball or similarly sized toy . As the ball rolls , treats fall out . you’re able to also fill affluent puzzles with an potpourri of seeds , grains and treats .
If you think that your chickens will be frightened of new gadget , lay the potentially dread objective outside of the coop far enough out for them to quickly desensitize to it . act with it to show them it ’s not scarey . Once you start , they will come quickly to partake in in the festivities . Enrichment item with seeable food is a good way to get . Once they become used to the idea of bird feeder puzzles , you may make them more challenging bit by bit .
Another matter my snort seem to delight is a garden mirror . I place them at ground level , and my chicken natter them day by day . prance around the yard , they often stop in their tracks to check out their own reflection , easy tilting their head from side to side and admire the wight staring back at them .
Allowing your dame to make choices in their husbandry , breeding and enrichment will keep them healthy and felicitous . I eff it when company comes over and sees how well-informed chickens really are . They often say , “ I did n’t cognize those addlehead could be school . ” Well , now they do .
This clause earlier appear in the September / October 2016 issue ofChickens .
