Duck training experiment - 4/11 update - fast learners

[Duck_feeder]

Day 5 update:

Moxy was very confused when I tried using the clicker in my left hand. She waited by my right hand still but knew the peas were coming out of that hand. So i'm going to just stick to clicking with my right hand.

Moxy is definitely showing more anticipation of the peas after hearing the clicker. She will walk over to my left hand and wait for me to open my hand if I'm slow at opening it.

She has very little impulse control, so teaching her to wait is very difficult. 3 times she actually didn't attack the peas when I told her to wait. Slow progress, but definitely in the right direction!!

Nettie decided to try working with Ming Mei with clicker training. In one session Ming Mei learned to wait! She would hold still and only grab the pea after Nettie used the clicker! Nettie trained Ming Mei when she was a duckling which is why she took to clicker training very quickly.

 

[duckluck]

Well, I know someone has trained a chicken to jump through a hula hoop on command! She trained the chicken to do this in one day, but yes, the chicken wants lots of treats!

 

[nettie]

poor ming was trying so hard, but she got it. at first I'd close my hand and only open it after she bowed her head (after I told her to wait), but then I tried holding one pea out in an open palm, and told her to wait for the clicker. she eventually got it. At first she kept turning her head back and forth from the pea to the clicker waiting for it. Once I clicked I told her to go get her pea and she did. She's probably the smartest of all of our ducks, and I did training with her when she was very little so she has a good base to start with. I can't wait to try teaching her colors, since she already knows the difference between red and blue... That will be fun...

 

[Duck_feeder]

Day 6 update:

I spent the first 5 minutes reinforcing the association between the clicker and treats. This time I only used the clicker after Moxy returned to a spot near my right hand (I'm trying to get her to learn than she should wait at that spot whenever we are training).

I worked on the wait command again today and Moxy still tries really hard to get at the peas. If I keep saying "wait" in rapid succession she will stop and wait for a few seconds. Still a long ways to go, but she's getting there!

 

[Wifezilla]

My ducks trained me, not the other way around!

 

[Duck_feeder]

So it's looking like Moxy is easier to train than my cockatiel, Biscuit. I've had at least twice as many sessions with Biscuit as I have with Moxy and all he hasn't shown much signs of progress (slightly more tame, but little signs of associating the clicker with treats).

Moxy on the other hand continues to train herself (she does a behavior on her own and I reinforce it). I noticed that she always moved to my right hand (clicker hand) after receiving her reward so I started pointing to a spot on the ground and tell her to "point." When I do this, she will peck at the spot on the ground that I'm touching. It doesn't matter where I point on the ground (only tried within my own arm's reach), she'll consistently peck at the spot. Unfortunately, if I point at a spot that is off the floor (e.g. top of my foot or top of a box) she gets confused and pecks at the spot on the ground closest to where I'm pointing. It'll probably take a few more sessions to get her to figure that part out.

We started working with Victor and Ollie recently. All we are doing with those two for now is associating the clicker with a reward. Ollie is showing a bit faster progress - she's clearly anticipating her peas whenever I use the clicker. She was nipping at my hand constantly at first but after lightly tapping her on the bill and saying "no" every time she bit my hand she quickly learned not to bite.

Moxy's next steps:
Switch to a short stick instead of my finger when I teach Moxy to "point."
Teach Moxy to point at things above ground level
Teach Moxy to point to colors on command

 

[nettie]

we'll have to make a board with colors in various shapes to see what we can teach them.... Moxy and Ming Mei are the best so far and have learned the quickest, alhtough it's different things. Ming Mei has learned to wait for her pea (in an open hand) until I click the clicker, which is something moxy can' do, though Ming Mei hasn't tried pointing yet. I'm hoping both will learn colors and maybe even shapes. We are also thinking about using a laser pointer to see if we can get them to go to a spot farther away then our reach and come back for peas.

Oh and Biscuit is a dumbo... lol.... For being a bird with a reputation of learning clicker trainer, he hasn't learned much of anything except to be more tame with us... Little punky...

 

[Duck_feeder]

Moxy is making great progress! She has almost mastered target training! (target training is where your bird will go to a location that you point to using your target item (usually a stick to point with).

I am using a white stick about a foot long that a few weeks ago would make her run away in terror if she saw it. Now, she will peck at whatever spot I point to with the stick.
For example, if I tap ground anywhere within a few feet of her, she will run up to it and peck the end of the stick. Once I use the clicker, she runs back to my other hand for her treat.

She'll follow the stick around in anticipation of being able to peck the end of it and earn her treat. If I hold it above her, she'll jump to peck the end of the stick (before I taught her this, she'd only jump if she could visibly see a pea in my hand).

Moxy is still learning to peck at the end of the stick when I touch a surface above ground level (e.g. top of my foot, side of a dresser, etc.). Once I can get her to do that 100% of the time, she'll officially have master basic target training and will start learning color targeting!

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Ming Mei is starting to understand the concept of target training. Right now she's still afraid of the target stick so I'm using my finger. (I'll start using the stick by holding it so its entire length goes long my arm and along my index finger. That way the end of the stick and end of my finger are the same and I can slowly extend the stick until she's no longer afraid of it and targets it). She'll target my finger about 75% of the time now.

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Ollie really surprised me yesterday! Until now all I have done with Ollie is two sessions of clicker association (click, then give treat). Yesterday I started getting her used to target training. Here's the steps I did:

1. Warm up by reinforcing clicker association. Click, then give treat. Pause of a random amount of time and repeat.
2. Wave my clicker hand to get her attention. Once she looked at my hand, I'd click and give her a treat. Ollie surprised me by figuring out very quickly she had to pay attention to my clicker hand to get a treat.
3. I started tapping the ground with my clicker hand. When she moved towards my hand, I'd click and give her a treat (simply looking no longer was enough to give her a treat). Again she surprised me on how quickly she figured out that she needed to move her head towards my hand!
4. Whenever she got close enough 4 times in a row, I'd only reward her if she was closer than before. Within 5 minutes she was pecking the ground next to my finger! Once in a while she'd get confused so I'd give her the treat for being "close enough" to keep her motivated.

In less than 10 minutes she learned basic target training! Her range right now is a bit limited (won't move as far as Moxy will and doesn't peck when I tap things above ground level) but her progress was pretty amazing!

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Victor and Vinny are still working on clicker association. They get too excited about food so they haven't noticed the clicker sound right before I give them their peas yet... A couple more sessions and they'll probably figure it out.

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Norie is such a strange duck...
I started the session by showing her a bowl of peas and she walked away to find the other ducks...
After under 5 minutes of clicker association, she ate 1 of the 5 peas in my hand then walked away to see if the bathtub had water in it...