Dominique Thread!

[FarmerJohn3285]

Are any of yall in the Dominique Club of America??? www.dominiqueclub.org IF NOT, YOU SHOULD DEF CHECK US OUT!!!

 

[centrarchid]

Are any of yall in the Dominique Club of America??? www.dominiqueclub.org IF NOT, YOU SHOULD DEF CHECK US OUT!!!

I am in but have not done anything substantiative yet.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

I'm glad to hear they're doing better.

If you want to discourage the piggy back rides, teach her to fly out in front of your feet instead. Just carry a small bit of scratch or even their regular feed in you pocket. Walk outside, bend over, and when the bird rushes up but just before it starts to fly, toss the feed out in front. Repeat several times a day. You'll be substituting one behavior (running out in front of your feet) for another (flying on your back) The cue will be your bending over.

I'm going to try that. The only way I can avoid having pants chickens or stepping on my Dominiques is to put a little scratch in a scoop and carry it out in front of me. Then they focus on the scoop rather than on trying to grab my pants or peck my shoes. From time to time one or more will launch into the air and land on my hand or even in the scoop.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Just use your bare hand, in a closed fist, out to your side. Let a few pieces drop as you walk along. If you're trying to get them to go somewhere, they'll gladly follow that trail of scratch til you give them more.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

Just use your bare hand, in a closed fist, out to your side. Let a few pieces drop as you walk along. If you're trying to get them to go somewhere, they'll gladly follow that trail of scratch til you give them more.

Ha! I've found the "carry the scoop, shaking it so they can hear it" method works well. The closed fist winds up with biddies on my arm - and shoulders. B^)

 

[Lacy Blues]

Even if you swing your arm to both sides of you? Give them a moving target to make it harder to aim!

 

[buffalogal]

As funny as it is to see chickens flying up on your shoulder like the pigeons of Piazza San Marco in Venice (and Lord knows, Visitors just love to see it), it can quickly get to be a nuisance. Messy hair! Glasses knocked flying! Poopy feet! LOL

OTOH, there are always at least a couple every year that favor being handled; this year, it's a Buckeye pullet and a couple of EEs that rush over to sit on your feet waiting to be picked up. That's easy to teach too. Start with giving them treats for coming up, then for allowing you to put your hands around them (but don't pick them up at first; you're still building trust) Then only reward them once you are holding them securely. You end up with this: http://eieio.org/img/chickenhandlers101.jpg

 

[The Yakima Kid]

Even if you swing your arm to both sides of you? Give them a moving target to make it harder to aim!

Yes. The scoop carried ahead of me arrests their attention, and they now know to head to the specific area in the run where I disperse the treats. They line up and actually wait. Some now immediately run for the treat area when they see that scoop approaching.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

As funny as it is to see chickens flying up on your shoulder like the pigeons of Piazza San Marco in Venice (and Lord knows, Visitors just love to see it), it can quickly get to be a nuisance. Messy hair! Glasses knocked flying! Poopy feet! LOL

OTOH, there are always at least a couple every year that favor being handled; this year, it's a Buckeye pullet and a couple of EEs that rush over to sit on your feet waiting to be picked up. That's easy to teach too. Start with giving them treats for coming up, then for allowing you to put your hands around them (but don't pick them up at first; you're still building trust) Then only reward them once you are holding them securely. You end up with this: http://eieio.org/img/chickenhandlers101.jpg

Snorfle. Ever tried to explain to one of your neighbors who has just dropped in why you have Vaseline and chicken plops all over your face, hair and glasses? "LEG MITES ? Whatever you say......"

Then there was my husband's colleague who came by while I was out in the backyard, and I heard the slider opening, and before turning adound I asked "Honey, is there chicken poop on my face or is it just on my glasses?" When I turned around I discovered my husband, and his queasy looking colleague. My husband, God bless his soul, simply reassured me that th chicken plops were only on my glasses.

And no, this was not a result of chickens vaulting to my shoulders for treats; one was a result of a displeased Black Star who did not want Vaseline on her legs, and the other was the result of Dominique resistance to having leg bands put on. Some biddies try to escape by going right over the top of you - not an attack or pecking, but just a great leap past you, sometimes using your head as a springboard.

 

[vebyrd36]

My birds
Vivi