How to - Training your chickens to come when called

[Babblingbrook]

Because I have a fair bit of land (seven acres) and my chooks are free range, I've taught them to come to me when I make a certain sound. This means I can lock them up for bed quickly and easily so nothing can harm them. If this sounds good to you, check out the instructions below:

1. Decide on what you want them to respond to. A simple word, phrase or sound will do. I make clucking noises.

2. Whenever it's time to feed them, take the food to their house, making the noise as you go.

3. Over time, begin making the noise slightly before collecting food for them.

4. Eventually your chickens will learn to associate the sound with food and come to you when they hear it.


Test this out on your hens and comment me the results

 

[SpringPeeper]

This method has worked well for me since I was a kid. My family favored the more traditional "here, chick chick". I always just imitated the noises a rooster or mother hen might make when scratching up food for another bird. I am tempted now to come up with something funny to try to train them to respond to instead.

 

[Babblingbrook]

My rooster responds to "Is it a bird, is it a plane, no. It's superrooster!" I'm not kidding. All the other hens respond to 'cluck cluck' but he is special.