Adventures In Chicken Clicker Training

orloffer

Crowing
Jun 10, 2020
3,513
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SF Bay Area, CA
I have decided to try some basic clicker training with my chickens! This is a thread where I will post questions and updates on how it is coming along. If you have any experience with clicker training chickens (or dogs, for that matter), or training chickens using any other methods, please share your experiences and advice! Or perhaps you would like to try clicker training with your own chickens? Either way, come join in!

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Training tools I am starting off with:
-Clicker (I happened to have one that was very suitably disguised as a chicken). Link to chicken clicker. The clicker is used not to issue commands, but as a marker for desirable behaviors. When the chicken displays the desired behavior, the clicker is immediately used to "mark" that behavior. One click = one reward.
Chicken Clicker.jpg

-Target (the item the chicken is pecks to get a reward). I am simply using a 2x2'' piece of origami paper I laminated, but this could be any number of suitable objects. I made two targets, one green (pictured here) and one red.
IMG_20210305_194457.jpg
-Rewards. I am using Tasty Grubs Black Soldier Fly Larvae (freeze dried), as I have large quantities of it on hand and my chooks love it!

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Today was my third day clicker training with Whitey, my CA White. On Day 1 I trained her to associate the click with a reward, by repeatedly clicking and then offering a small cup of grubs for her to take one or two pecks at. Yesterday I introduced the concept of pecking at my green target by placing a grub on the target and clicking and rewarding when she pecked at it to eat the grub. Before long she caught on, and I no longer had to place a grub on the target to get her to peck it. :celebrateToday I continued working on targeting, and tried to teach her to peck only at a green target and not at a red one (by only clicking and rewarding pecks at the green). She consistently pecks the green target when both a green and a red one are placed in front of her, even if I switch them around. I will have to keep working on having her not peck when there is only a red target present.

I will update tomorrow if I get a chance! :)
 
Very interesting. I will definitely be following this thread.

I would try something like this with my chickens....but they are silkies and very lazy silkies at that. I’ve been trying to use treats to get them to use a feeder I have, but they are having none of it 😂
I’m glad it is working for your chicken.
 
Awesome work so far! I’m currently training a group of chickens at work and use the clicker. I’ve also used a clicker as a marker with cats, dogs and plan to work with my lizard and turtle next!
 
Awesome work so far! I’m currently training a group of chickens at work and use the clicker. I’ve also used a clicker as a marker with cats, dogs and plan to work with my lizard and turtle next!
Wow! What have you trained the chickens to do? I am trying to get ideas for what to teach mine. I have had to put training on hold because it has been raining for the last few days.
Also, what are you planning to train the lizard and turtle?
 
Wow! What have you trained the chickens to do? I am trying to get ideas for what to teach mine. I have had to put training on hold because it has been raining for the last few days.
Also, what are you planning to train the lizard and turtle?
Each chicken is on a different learning schedule but the things I’ve worked on are:
  • Come - they’ll running automatically when they see food but I’d like them to come for a cue word/sound even if they don’t SEE food
  • Target - I use a target stick connected to a clicker but have one special chicken that was also taught to target a specific pink ball (they can make distinctions between shapes and colors so this is fun to challenge
  • Step - I used this just to get them to step onto an elevated object but generalized it so many of them will now walk up a flight of steps
  • Perch - On my arm or on an object, this one has been challenging for most of them
  • Pick Up - a cue word that I’m about to pick them up and they’ll be rewarded for staying calm
  • Agility - I have a small agility course that includes weave poles, a tunnel, and a basic jump that I am working on some of them with
That’s what I’m touching on with all of them, but some of them kind of stalled at come and target. Part of my challenge is that they are housed in a large yard with about 40 birds and many of the birds will grab food without actually doing anything and it deters my “students”. But I’m at an animal shelter so it is what it is for now!

For my lizard and turtle I hope to really just teach them “target” because that will allow me to have them walk where I’d like them to for educational presentations. If we can learn more than that, that’ll be great too!
 
Each chicken is on a different learning schedule but the things I’ve worked on are:
  • Come - they’ll running automatically when they see food but I’d like them to come for a cue word/sound even if they don’t SEE food
  • Target - I use a target stick connected to a clicker but have one special chicken that was also taught to target a specific pink ball (they can make distinctions between shapes and colors so this is fun to challenge
  • Step - I used this just to get them to step onto an elevated object but generalized it so many of them will now walk up a flight of steps
  • Perch - On my arm or on an object, this one has been challenging for most of them
  • Pick Up - a cue word that I’m about to pick them up and they’ll be rewarded for staying calm
  • Agility - I have a small agility course that includes weave poles, a tunnel, and a basic jump that I am working on some of them with
That’s what I’m touching on with all of them, but some of them kind of stalled at come and target. Part of my challenge is that they are housed in a large yard with about 40 birds and many of the birds will grab food without actually doing anything and it deters my “students”. But I’m at an animal shelter so it is what it is for now!

For my lizard and turtle I hope to really just teach them “target” because that will allow me to have them walk where I’d like them to for educational presentations. If we can learn more than that, that’ll be great too!
Thank you so much for the detailed explanation! I would love to try some of those with my chickens!
 

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