Are chickens smart enough to learn from scolding?

[debilorrah]

Ok, I don't think they can reason, but I do think that they learn t know what scares them, and will avoid situations that caused them to be scared. That being said, we have all heard about a roo or a hen that just wouldn't get it, so there are always exceptions, but in my case, I have an aggressive hen that I smack upside her head, and she seems to get it - for a while. She is still young - 14 weeks, so we will see. Her name is Hannibal. HAHAHA!

 

[sillybirds]

Quote:
That's funny . . . I'm picturing your chicken with a little muzzle over her beak!

 

[freemotion]

Check this out....Google "clicker training" and chickens and you will find some interesting stuff. There are schools for animal trainers that actually have the students practice with chickens to learn the technique of using the clicker in advance of the reward, because it is faster.

They have to work with both chickens that have never been trained and chickens that were trained by other students, so can be tougher to work with.

If I could just train all my animals to poop in the compost pile.....

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:
That's funny . . . I'm picturing your chicken with a little muzzle over her beak!

She needs danged muzzle. She pecks at EVERYTHING. I smack her and she stops and lets me pick her up and pet her. Otherwise she goes crazy. She was like that from 2 days old.

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:

You are funny!

 

[flakey chick]

Chickens do respond to conditioning. One thing to consider when trying to condition behavior is how it fits into their natural behavior. When using negative conditioning (avoiding shock, scary brooms, etc.) birds can learn "flee" behaviors (running, wing flapping) more quickly. When using rewards (treats, verbal praise) pecking behaviors are learned more quickly. In your case I would use some type of negative reinforcement.

Chickens have amazing intelligence. They surprise me with things they have learned, but still seem dumb as a post at other times.

When I let my girls out, one of them couldn't figure out that she had to go upstairs and use the back door (that she had already used several times.) She was just too focused on trying to go towards her friend she could see. Her friend was smart enough to come get me. She ran up on the porch and started squawking till I came out.

 

[Godsgrl]

Portia, your post reminded me of an experience with my hen Big Momma. I came down to see her one day, hadn't had her all that long. She saw me, and immediately looked at my hands. I felt offended, she only cared if I had food for her or not.

 

[12 Acres]

No, it only incites more bad behavior.

 

[flakey chick]

Well here's a sign of that special chicken intelligence. The girls started squawking up a storm. We went out on the porch and couldn't figure out the problem. Then the weather radio went off- tornado watch.