clicker training a chicken?

[Guinea Goonie]

Ya know I was pretty amazed that they got this chicken to do this !

Looked like a leghorn hen.

 

[pawsplus]

Quote:
How is it torture? You just lure them in one direction, click (w/ the light) and drop in a treat. They love it!

 

[esjro]

I have a 13 page pdf document on chicken training that I found online somewhere. if you would like to PM me with your email address I can send it to you.

 

[chubbydog811]

haha! that video was awesome! i dont think i would have enough patients to go that far with it!!!

as for the fish...maybe they would enjoy it? they dont like me much as it is..so i guess food would make them happy eh? lol

ill have to try it sometime!

esjro -my email is my user name @aol.com... im not sure if my computer could handle something that big though -i think theres something wrong with it, because whenever i go to open a pdf, or anything of the like, it freezes, and makes me angry because i wish i had a Mac instead of the crappy dell

....

 

[Buff Hooligans]

The lady who does www.hencam.com clicker-trained her bantam leghorn. She needed the chicken to pose in certain places for photos for her new book, and it worked.

 

[shakecc]

I actually worked with the Bailey's about 10 years ago when I started working for a large assistance dog organization (who I still work for). The point of the chicken training "course" was to work on your timing and learn about postive reinforment. Chickens are fast so you have to be fast and they learn basic things quickly so you can see results fast! Back then I would have laughed in your face if you had told me I would have a chicken coop someday.

 

[verthandi]

Quote:
Just FYI, if you are using the clicker as the CUE, that's not clicker training. The click is supposed to be the conditioned reinforcer--you wait for them to enter the coop or you lure them in w/ food and then you click to tell them "that's right!" THEN they get the food. They learn that the click means "you got it right -- treats on the way!" If you use it as the cue, then that's no different than using a word or a signal as the cue to enter the coop -- it's fine, but it's not actually clicker training.

You are correct and that is the reason I stated that I didn't follow the normal clicker pattern of training. Correct introduction to clicker training would take more room than this forum. I hope the OP has a blast with learning the technique.

 

[chubbydog811]

so if the weather werent so cold and crappy, i would definitely be out there trying to train the chickens, but i hate the cold!
since im starting my dog with it next week (when my mum goes back to school, and i have the house to myself - with no distractions) im going to work at my week old chicks...since they are in my bedroom, its a lot easier to work with them!

ive been looking at as much clicker info as i can the past 2 days, and have found a few books i want to get...for tricks for birds, dog behavior, and horse tricks...should be fun!

i did try working with my basset today, but he didnt like the treats i had, and hes too slow of an eater anyway!!!
hopefully the chickens are easier!

 

[Suellyn]

Karen Pryor's "Don't Shoot the Dog" is required reading for all of my Interns & Students, and I am a Zookeeper/Trainer that works primarily with Primates & small mammals... not dogs (except for African Wild Dogs, and you don't go into the enclosure with them!!). The principal of positive reinforcement training, operant conditioning, "clicker training" etc., pretty much applies to ALL species, so even if the book is about domestic dogs, it is a great "jumping off point" for anyone who wants to train any animal.

Once you have the basic concept of how to use the clicker as a "bridge" (a signal to the animal that they have done "the right thing" & that a reward is coming), the sky is the limit. Have utilized it for everything from getting a diabetic mandrill to accept insulin injections, to getting a little mallard duck to hop, swim, "follow", or dive on cue, to having a lion voluntarily enter a shipment crate for transfer to another zoo. All based on voluntary participation from the animal & positive/fun for them (& the trainer!!

).

PS: for your bassett.. try itsy bitsy treats, you don't want it to be something that takes a lot of time to eat, and you don't want him to get satiated/full quickly!

 

[chubbydog811]

thats pretty awesome that you work at a zoo! im going to school for vet tech, and thought about looking into that after im done...but...i dont want to move to maine for the closest zoo

that is actually the book i was most likely going to get first...it looked like a great read! ive been trying to cover her whole website, since she knows what she was talking about, and ive learned so much from her already!

im also hoping once i figure out how it works, i can use it for training the young horses to load onto the trailer (thats always misreble unless its the Throughbreds that im loading, because theyre so used to it from the track)...

and to the basset cookie idea...bassets are just all around, odd shaped animals...i tried the small treats, but he couldnt chew them! so i need to find a larger treat that he can chew, and that he likes (he's very picky). ive heard using baby carrots? its healthy, and with the right dog, very tasty! on top of being odd shaped and picky, he also eats incredibly slow - when hand feeding him, i need to shove things in his mouth, or put it on the floor before he decides he might want to eat it....would using a favorite toy be as effective as a treat?