Australorps breed Thread

[Windy Bay Farm]

A Handsome Dude ...Wait till you see how long his tail Feather will grow out To ...

oh he's very pretty!

X 2 !!!

Thank you all very much !

 

[Farmgirl1000]

So curious about what type of tricks have you taught your Australorp? ~Dee~

Hi Dee,
I taught my Black Australop to jump through a hoola -hoop,
sit on my shoulder , jump on my arm for sunflower seeds , fall asleep in my arms......no joke

and fly on top of our little chicken pen for a cricket.
She will do ANYTHING for a treat! Its really easy to teach them tricks(if they are pretty tame).
You should try it!



farmgirl1000

 

[DeesHens]

Quote: Thank you for sharing with me. I enjoyed hearing about your tricks. I would love to watch it. Have you considered making a vid?
My two are pretty tame although they do peck me at times. Even with gloves on the back of my hands get bruised. May need thicker ones.
Any advise on how to teach them not to peck my hands? Some say if you hand feed them that is the price you pay.
But honestly I'm not sure if that is entirely true.
Mine do jump on a table for treats. They have been doing it since they were just chicks actually.
Began by treating them for jumping up on the edge of their brooder box so I didn't have to bend down to pick them up.
So of course I kept a wire screen over their brooder until I wanted them to come out.
I am sure I could teach Peppa to jump on me for a treat as I am forever discouraging her from doing it. LOL
She knows I carry raw hulled sunflower seeds in my pocket so I catch her eyeing me as if she is considering jumping up.
Don't think I would like her to learn that trick as her jumping on me randomly would not be good for me.
I can't imagine either of mine falling asleep in my arms. That goes beyond their comfort zone I believe.
They are submissive to me picking them up and holding them but are eager to get down.
I tried feeding Bella seeds while holding her and she was so stressed out she couldn't eat for quite awhile.
But being a food hog eventually conquered her nerves, LOL She ate than I put her down.
So curious how did you ever get yours to fall asleep in your arms? ~Dee~

 

[bhaugh]

Mine will peck hard at times but I train them as I do puppies.....if they are trying to take the treats hard, I yell "Ouch" if it doesnt stop them, then I close my hand so they can no longer access the seed. I use black sunflower seeds most of the time for hand treats. Once my hand is closed and they stop, I open it again. If they do it again, I repeat the ouch and close my hand. If by the third time they haven't stopped, I take my hand away and treats are done for that period of time. If they get aggressive with each other, which happens some times, I correct the behavior from the mean hen. I don't think we give chickens much credit for how smart they are. I have found that they will adjust their behavior for something they really want. Food seems to be a good motivator for chickens.

A hen that is pecking your hands hard needs to know that it hurts. Unless you let her know that you don't like it (as any other hen would who is over her in the pecking order) she will continue to do it. Is she top hen and there is no one else to challenge her?

 

[Gramma Chick]

Mine will peck hard at times but I train them as I do puppies.....if they are trying to take the treats hard, I yell "Ouch" if it doesnt stop them, then I close my hand so they can no longer access the seed. I use black sunflower seeds most of the time for hand treats. Once my hand is closed and they stop, I open it again. If they do it again, I repeat the ouch and close my hand. If by the third time they haven't stopped, I take my hand away and treats are done for that period of time. If they get aggressive with each other, which happens some times, I correct the behavior from the mean hen. I don't think we give chickens much credit for how smart they are. I have found that they will adjust their behavior for something they really want. Food seems to be a good motivator for chickens.

A hen that is pecking your hands hard needs to know that it hurts. Unless you let her know that you don't like it (as any other hen would who is over her in the pecking order) she will continue to do it. Is she top hen and there is no one else to challenge her?

Closing the hand works ..also bring the hand closer to them ..so they cant get the full force of the peck into it .
Also the younger you hand feed them the gentler they will normally be . they are also less gentle if they think another chicken is going to get their treat 1st

 

[hellbender]

This is funny...

I have never considered attempting to train a chicken, with the exception of carrying punky cockerels around if they got a bit too aggressive with me. I have found that at least in my experience, carrying them, squeezing them to a point that might be bit uncomfortable while stroking their heads, seemed to work wonder. Most people do not seem to have the same results that I seem to be able to squeeze out of them.

 

[Farmgirl1000]

Thank you for sharing with me. I enjoyed hearing about your tricks. I would love to watch it. Have you considered making a vid?
My two are pretty tame although they do peck me at times. Even with gloves on the back of my hands get bruised. May need thicker ones.
Any advise on how to teach them not to peck my hands? Some say if you hand feed them that is the price you pay.
But honestly I'm not sure if that is entirely true.
Mine do jump on a table for treats. They have been doing it since they were just chicks actually.
Began by treating them for jumping up on the edge of their brooder box so I didn't have to bend down to pick them up.
So of course I kept a wire screen over their brooder until I wanted them to come out.
I am sure I could teach Peppa to jump on me for a treat as I am forever discouraging her from doing it. LOL
She knows I carry raw hulled sunflower seeds in my pocket so I catch her eyeing me as if she is considering jumping up.
Don't think I would like her to learn that trick as her jumping on me randomly would not be good for me.
I can't imagine either of mine falling asleep in my arms. That goes beyond their comfort zone I believe.
They are submissive to me picking them up and holding them but are eager to get down.
I tried feeding Bella seeds while holding her and she was so stressed out she couldn't eat for quite awhile.
But being a food hog eventually conquered her nerves, LOL She ate than I put her down.
So curious how did you ever get yours to fall asleep in your arms? ~Dee~

Hello!
Your chicken sounds like it would be quick to learn tricks! I get them to fall asleep in my arms and gently stroking them around the area where her "giblets" are. Josefina absolutely loves it ( and coos and closes her eyes) I do this for about 4 or 5 minutes until she is relaxed .......then she finally falls asleep! Your chicken has to be REALLY tame to do this though! LOL You are right, I should make a video of this.

My other hen ,"Sunny" would not dare do this! I have a problem with my hens pecking my hand too hard also! It normally happens when they are really hungry and want to get all the food before someone else does. Good luck training Peppa!

 

[informative]

My BAs are seven months old and lay almost everyday. When they started laying they were meduim to xl eggs. Now all are large to xl. Everyone around me that has chickens are getting no eggs now and are requesting eggs from me to set.

it is very frustrating - I like my BA's they are easy going healthy birds but I am still getting a brown egg every day from the Red Star and nothing from the two BA's - starting to think one of the BA's may be a roo or something and the other is just lazy.

 

[ronott1]

it is very frustrating - I like my BA's they are easy going healthy birds but I am still getting a brown egg every day from the Red Star and nothing from the two BA's - starting to think one of the BA's may be a roo or something and the other is just lazy.

Red Stars reach Point of lay very early for chickens. In the spring they will start laying as early as 16 weeks old. The average in Spring for all chickens is 22 weeks. Australorps from hatcheries take about 24 weeks or so to start in the Spring.

It is Winter now so Point of lay will be delayed by several weeks. Your BAs are little babies still. Give them time and they will be laying right up there with the Red Star. They will actually lay more over 3 years then the Red Star since she will have a steeper egg drop off then the Australorps.

 

[hellbender]

Red Stars reach Point of lay very early for chickens. In the spring they will start laying as early as 16 weeks old. The average in Spring for all chickens is 22 weeks. Australorps from hatcheries take about 24 weeks or so to start in the Spring.

It is Winter now so Point of lay will be delayed by several weeks. Your BAs are little babies still. Give them time and they will be laying right up there with the Red Star. They will actually lay more over 3 years then the Red Star since she will have a steeper egg drop off then the Australorps.

Yep...we have kept Australorp hens to age 4 years because they were so productive. Red/Black Stars are great birds but they will flash, lay like the dickens and be ready for the 'never after' by about age 2...IMHO and from what I have witnessed.