Chicken behaviour question

[Sugarberry]

Is there a good site on chicken /poultry behavior or behavior studies, please? Googling hasn't turned up much.

I clicker train my other animals (R+) and am interested in some behaviors displayed by my chickens, and I would like to learn more.

Thank you.

 

[BGcoop]

I hope you get your answer because I was just trying to look up stuff on some of my chicken’s behaviors today and found next to nothing! Google kept sending me here! Ha ha!

 

[sylviethecochin]

I would direct you to read @centrarchid's posts. He spends a lot of time watching his chickens' behaviour.

 

[ShellyBlanco]

click Forums then search "clicker training" and their are 1350 posts regarding the subject here on BYC... sounds like a challenge but good luck with it. I'm going to be watching and doing a little research myself. My RIRs are very smart and I'd like to try some more training on them for different issues.

 

[Sugarberry]

Lol. I actually found this

https://www.coursera.org/lecture/chickens/stretching-wing-flapping-thermoregulation-sleeping-4guw2

I think I might enroll in this.

I was interested in wing flapping by my rooster and 'higher' ranked hens. If I have been away or not out and about, when I come home I notice this behavior. It seems it is a comfort or calming signal.

I haven't looked into this course, but the preview seems interesting.

Edited to add, the wing flapping is followed by a big, all over body shake. Rooster is totally trustworthy, so aggression is not an issue in this, plus the hens do it too. Correct me if I am wrong about my thoughts on this

 

[leighks]

There is a BBC documentary called The Secret Life of Chickens. In it they show college students teaching hens to associate certain shapes (printed on paper) with treats under it in a specially designed tray. When the hen selects a certain shape- say a star- and pecks through the paper and finds a treat under, she will only peck the papers with stars.
My red sexlink is super smart and I would love to try this with her at some point. She’s highly treat motivated.