Do you “punish” (not abuse) your chickens?

[-Shade-]

I "peck" them back when they peck me. Doesn't matter how old they are, most my girls know better by this point that I am at the top of the ladder lol

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Making the wyandotte hens join in on the chasing and pecking.

That's interesting, how exactly did they do that?

 

[PhantomSlayer]

They chased and the female wyandottes just joined in for some reason.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

They chased and the female wyandottes just joined in for some reason.

I see.

 

[aking19]

I love reading these replies. Some literally had me The only “punishing” I do is to my rooster Hank when he’s showing his rear to me. I pick him up and cuddle him and talk sweet to him. I think he hates it, doesn’t always work but I mostly grab him to just get him to quit. They’re all pets so I tolerate their antics.

 

[Tahai]

Like most everyone else, I make it clear from Day 1 that I am the Top of the Pecking Order by mimicking Top Chicken behaviors. I always rehome my roosters as soon as I can, but while they are in my coop and if they challenge me, I force them into submission on the ground first, and then pick them up and carry them around to show that I am dominant. I do not peck the roosters back or push them away, as I believe that shows them they are worthy of being challenged. I also give love and treats generously, but will not tolerate any insubordination. I do peck the hens immediately if they peck me. Sometimes I force them into submission if they are being particularly troublesome, but they already view me as the rooster, so are much easier to educate.

I know many people say to avoid socializing with your cockerels, and I understand that logic, but we all know that many birds are "they" until they either crow or lay an egg. I handle/interact with all my chicks daily. YMMV *shrug*

 

[TOP ROOST CHICKENS]

Well the main problem with punishment is that to punish you need to take away and chickens can enjoy the simple life

 

[PoleFarm]

They typically always respond to the mealworm bag shaking, but lately this hen has been like FU I do what I want.

I don’t want anyone to think I’m unnecessarily awful to my chickens. I love them dearly and spoil them as much as I can, but it’s my first time with chickens and I’m trying to figure things out as I go.

"You're not my real mom!"

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Punishment, IMO, is pretty much a non-starter in training animals. Why? Because it occurs after the unwanted behavior and there is no way to connect, in the animal's mind, the punishment to the behavior. It is a failure to communicate. If your dog chews your shoe, for example, while you are at work and you come home and spank him for it, how does he know what you're spanking him for? He chewed the shoe hours ago. You show him the shoe and hit him? Oh, so he's not supposed to look at the shoe? That's what he was doing when you spanked him. And what is he supposed to do about it? He can't un-chew the shoe. He can't go back in time and not chew it. All he learns from the spanking is not to look at a shoe when you're holding it and yelling at him. He ducks his head and crawls away, not because he feels "guilty," but because he doesn't want to get hit again. He's learned to fear you and that's all.

That's why it's so important to "catch him in the act." If he grabs your shoe and a noisy cluster of empty aluminum cans immediately jumps off the dresser and bonks him on the head, so he drops the shoe, there's a good chance he won't pick up the shoe again. Especially if it happens again right away when grabs the other shoe. He's likely to swear off shoes for life. And you don't even have to be there! This is not punishment, it's consequences.