How to train a chicken to be "wild"

[123RedBeard]

In a couple of days put your perch in the tree ...

 

[Mazza1]

Good idea. Especially since I made the "perch" using materials from a cat toy set up and I have plenty more. Thanks for the idea. Here is a picture of him using the totally non-realistic, terribly inefficient use of a perch on a porch.

 

[123RedBeard]

He seems smart enough the recognize his food bowl ... I'm guessing that once he is comfortable with his perch, that he will also recognize it and sleep on it in the tree ...

 

[Mazza1]

Another brief update. I put a perch in the tree and moved his food bowl nearby. He was using the food bowl when I put food in, but I've also seen him appear to be more adept at finding his own food, so I've really decreased the amount I've been putting out. In fact, one day, I was walking to the tree to put more food in and he was following me. As I turned a corner, I looked back and saw he wasn't behind me. I looked back and saw him with a wriggling lizard in his mouth. He flung it and then retrieved it and appeared to be occupied so I used that time to put the food in the tree. Once I returned, he appeared non-plussed and walked onto the porch as if nothing had happened. I looked for the lizard and didn't see it. I felt up his crop and felt lizard in there. So success! (poor lizard)

Anyhow, despite some initial improvements, including him increasing his range daily, we had a major setback as well. Someone's dog was loose a few days back and wreaking havoc on the condo. It was chasing cats, it was chasing wild chickens (I've never seen chickens fly so high) and as a result, I had no idea where my baby had gone. We went out looking everywhere, but nothing. As dusk arrived, I was starting to panic because I know how my chicken panics at night with his need to roost. Fortunately, he came back but was missing tail feathers and seemed tired. I don't know what he dealt with or where he went, but he was beat. The next day (yesterday), he did a lot of sleeping on the porch so I was a bit more free-flowing with the food. Today, he seems better but still seems to be very cautious. He's been spending a lot more time hiding in bushes than he used to, but has also been wandering onto our porch a lot less.

So tonight, after he got himself settled on his perch on our porch, I waited until JUST after dusk. Then I rudely took him off his perch and put him up in the tree. He really panicked. He cried and cried and tried to get away, but I blocked his ability to leave. At some point, he kind of gave up and hopped onto the perch, briefly groomed himself and then hunkered down. I stayed in the tree for about 10 minutes waiting for him to fall asleep somewhat. After that, I slowly slinked away. I've checked on him once so far, and so far so good. So there is hope. He's definitely become more rooster-ish even though he still makes chick noises. He attacked my feet today, so my feet attacked back. Seemed to put him in his place. Anyhow, I've found this an interesting adventure and it will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow. I plan to cover the perch on our porch with a towel so that it's inaccessible and see if he goes into the tree on his own. Fingers crossed!

 

[centrarchid]

He was going to loose his juvenile tail anyway.

When handling, try not to grab him. Rather have him perch on you.

 

[Mazza1]

Time for another update on my young rooster boy. He has been spending the nights in the tree, but not by choice. Every evening, he still comes to the porch to sleep. I walk to the tree, put food in his bowl, and he gladly follows. I try to do this at dusk hoping he'll stay. But then once he's done, he runs back to the porch. So I'm having to wait till LATE dusk, then take him to the tree at which point he figures he has no choice but to stay. And he does.

His range is increasing even further. There are days I don't even see him come around until late evening. So that's good, but given how much he whines, I don't think he's being super successful at finding food. I throw food out in the morning (into the grass so he has to forage) and then a bit in the evening in the tree. So that's how things WERE progressing. But today was a bit of a different story.

Every evening, like I said, I've been waiting around to see where my rooster goes. Today however, we were going to see a movie which would mean I wouldn't be around in the evening. The perch was still set up on our porch so I knew, if that's what he chose, he'd be fine. Kind of one step backwards, but still safe. So we left with no worries. Living on a Caribbean island, seeing stray dogs is no big deal. But today, as we were on our way to the movies, we saw a LIMPING stray dog. We stopped, found him to be sweet but in need of medical care and opted to take him back to our place. The humane society was already closed but I could take him there in the morning. In the mean time, we still had the dog crate we had used to house our chicken. So we set it up on the porch, put the dog in, and then went BACK to the movies.

Upon arriving home, I wondered what I'd find. I knew the presence of the dog and crate would be upsetting, but didn't know if it would change rooster's behavior. Well apparently it did. I found a content dog and an empty perch when I returned. I walked to the tree and found my rooster perching peacefully in it. So YAY! Success! All you have to do to get a rooster to stop using your porch to sleep at night is to put a guard dog there. Problem solved! Unfortunately, the plan is STILL to take the dog to the humane society so I will not have a guard dog tomorrow. We shall see if this change in behavior sticks for good or not.

 

[centrarchid]

The rooster's "whining" is something the rooster learned to train you to provide more food. My hens in particular will do it when they have chicks even when all a filled to the gills.