Chickeeeeee... chick... chick... chick!

[joebryant]

"Chickeeeeee... chick... chick... chick!"
That's the way my grandmother in Kentucky used to call her chickens from all over the farm; none of them were enclosed anywhere; they went wherever they wanted to. Anytime she wanted to give them something, she'd let out the call, and every chicken, hen and roosters would come running.
It seems to me that it would be a quick way to get the chickens back into their run and/or coop and would prove to be a big time saver once they're trained.
Do any of you have your chickens trained to a call, a bell, or whatever, or have you tried unsuccessfully? If so, how did you train them or try to train them, and how is it working out for you?

 

[hcammack]

I can whistle and a line of chickens apears out of seemingly thin air they will be anywhere and here me and come racing accross the yard and they file right into there coop when I walt up. The key to chicken training is scratch grain (chicken crack)

I think its funny because when I absent mindidly whistle the hens come racing at me not that they don't fallow me around any way. I am the flock rooster though because we can't have one so the hens fallow me around and seem to know that I will protect them from stuff.

Henry

 

[1mommahen]

All I have to do is rattle a plastic bag of shredded cheese and call "I've got the cheese" and they are at my feet instantly!

 

[lfoose]

Mine come to "cheeeeeeeeeeep, cheep,cheep, cheep. Of course when I come home from work, they know I have a treat and come running regardless of what I say and will fuss and follow me until I feed them a treat.

But then, my house hen knows that when I am in the kitchen, there is possible food to be eaten and whereever in the house she may be, she comes running...

 

[soctippy]

The training method you are refering to is positive reinforcement. Basically, the chickens learn to associates a positive thing (like a bell) with treats or something else that they love. I have found that this method works with almost any animal.

 

[Poppycock]

We give our 3 week old chicks tiny grasshoppers as a treat. When we started throwing them into their pen when they were about 1 1/2 weeks old, we'd always say, "Here, chick, chick." Now when they hear that phrase, they all come running.

 

[Buff Hooligans]

I linked "chick chick chick" in a rising tone of voice with the immediate onset of mealworms raining down upon them. Figured it would come in handy if any of them got loose and I needed them to come running.

 

[hooligan]

All of mine just come to me as soon as they see me outside the privacy fence lol