Hi Fellow Chicken Lovers!

[Isaac 0]

Welcome to BYC! It's great to have you here!

 

[N F C]

Sounds like you've made an interesting career change...what do you train your chickens to do?

Thanks for joining us!

 

[sourland]

Good morning, and welcome to BYC.

 

[Meg-in-MT]

Hello! Welcome to BYC!! Very cute videos!

 

[HennyAgilityChicken]

Sounds like you've made an interesting career change...what do you train your chickens to do?

Thanks for joining us!

Thanks for the warm welcomes!!
I train all kinds of things -- tricks like pecking different colors or objects. I got serious about it when my girls were pullets because TangoTango started bullying Pele. So I got Tango to target & chase a green ball, & used that to move her away from Pele when she got "that look" in her eye like "I'm getting frustrated & I'm about to peck the bejezzus out of you, Pele."

They know their names, fly onto my arm or hand, give me eye contact, peck or scratch at different objects, go through different obstacles, etc. They each have their own specialty. Henny is very light & likes to fly, so she flies onto the top of my head. If she's comfortable, she'll also do it to visitors. We're still working on putting the cue on stimulus control so that she doesn't do it unless we give her the cue. But she loves it so much, it's hard to control herself!!!

I can also get them to stay still enough on my lap for some husbandry stuff -- lifting their wing for pulse, parasite inspection, & blood draws if needed, lifting their butts for a vent check, putting their claw in my hand, etc.

You can do a lot of these things with luring too. But it's fun to watch them make the association and offer the behavior themselves without having to be lured.

 

[Brahmachicken240]

Welcome to Backyard Chickens!

Feel free to drop in and share your flock

Updates for 2020 with us here in my 2020 flock life thread



https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/2020-flock-life.1351080/

It’s nice to meet you!

 

[drumstick diva]

I recall seeing an agility chicken some years(?) ago on BYC. She did weave poles, tunnels, etc. I wonder if she was one of yours.

 

[drumstick diva]

My memory isn't that good but, for some reason I think it was a white chicken. Could be wrong, wouldn't be the first time. But so much fun to watch. The chicken I saw was quite slow& deliberate in her performance. Maybe nowadays the pace has picked up.