I cant help it...

[Chickassan]

You could have said nuggets, that would have made for some crazy awkward chicken training and maybe some wacky love connections.
You just never know about these things.

Cool. It just never occurred to me to call them anything else, lol!

 

[goldysgirl]

You could have said nuggets, that would have made for some crazy awkward chicken training and maybe some wacky love connections.
You just never know about these things.

Hahahaha!

 

[goldysgirl]

As long as you have diligence and a good enough reward sure you can train her.
You have to be nearly OCD to be sucessful.
You'll need to put your rewards in a container, never change the container it is your chicken whistle.
Start easy call her name throw a treat immediately, let her see where it came from.
Do this at a set time everyday, as many times as you want.
Eventually you'll call her name and she'll come to you.
If you want to finger train her, wait until she's on the roost give her a treat.
Put one finger under her toes, lightly lift until she steps onto your hand.
Show her a treat, don't let her have it just yet.
Rub her toes, give nice little pets, have her hang out a while.
Put her back on the roost and give the treat.
You"ll have a finger buddy in no time.
It is just repetition and reward.

I think using the roost is a great idea! I would give her the treat immediately upon stepping up onto the hand if teaching "stepping on hand is the goal." Then, after she gets that, I would progress to touching and other goals. I think it is easier to pair one behavior with getting a treat at a time.

 

[Jamited]

I'd it possible to train a bantam to do things small birds/parrots would do? Just like come to me. Give affection. Perch on my finger and stuff like that? I have the cutest little Dutch bantam who is super friendly. And I wanna train her in some way.... any suggestions?

Hi. I have four bantams.three are seranos and one is a Dutch fluffy cheek. I've had them since they were eight weeks old, but I was afraid to handle them too much as I was new to chickens. Over time, I chat with them every day when I clean up their poo and the co-op and they are very tame. They perch on my back when I'm bending over to clean. If one is sitting on an egg I pick her up and have a cuddle and always kiss each one goodnight. The Dutch fluffy cheek is huge compared with the others, but she's very food orientated and will run before me to be first in line for their tray of fresh veggies in the morning and their mixed corn and meal worms at night. I'm sure you could train your little one with her favourite treats. They are very smart and curious and respond to kindness the same as any pet. Good luck with her.

 

[Debbi H]

As you can see by my profile pic, bantams can be trained! I just pat my shoulder and say, Come On, Doodle, and he flies up on my shoulder to be petted. Then I can put my hand in front of him and he will sit on the back of my hand while I pet him. If we are in the warm sunshine, he has actually fallen asleep! My handsome little boy is now 4 1/2 years old! He's the reason I call our little place Doodle Farm.

 

[SurferchickinSB]

I'd it possible to train a bantam to do things small birds/parrots would do? Just like come to me. Give affection. Perch on my finger and stuff like that? I have the cutest little Dutch bantam who is super friendly. And I wanna train her in some way.... any suggestions?

Yes, it is very possible. I have taught a couple of my chickens different things.

 

[oldhenmisschick]

I have a bantam silkie house chicken and she will perch on my hand or arm. I slide my hand under her breastbone and slowly lift up. At first she flapped a lot, but very soon got the idea. She also knows she can get treats when I am cooking in the kitchen and comes running. If she doesn't see us, she calls for us and we call her over. She is in love with my lab, but he mostly ignores her. My sharpie mix is tolerant of her but leaves if she tries to snuggle. She loves men more than women. I give her a bath as needed and she knows to be still when I trim her topknot and muffs so she can see. Pretty much, she is just like one of the dogs!

 

[cmom]

I had a bird that would come when called. I trained her with treats. Her name was Gladys. She was special because she had a crossed beak so she had some special care. Unfortunately a fox got her a few months ago. I still think about her every day. She loved to be held and loved to be with us.

 

[Drarig99]

I clicker trained a d'Uccle to peak on a red ball only and ignore the others. Also, a Cemani and a Leghorn to step on my arm.

 

[Mother of Chooks]

Like everyone above has said, training chickens to do tricks is quite possible but takes determination and patience. Starting while they're young and rewarding them with pets and/or food is the best way to go, but chickens are creatures of habit so if you just keep at training long enough it should pay off in the long run.

My dogs don't get on well with my chickens since they like to chase them and because of this the chickens can only come out of their run to free range the yard in the afternoons at around about 3ish. They've all learnt that they're not allowed to go out of the run before 3pm when I tie the run door open for them and if the door gets opened at anytime earlier in the day will actually stay in the run and wait for me to signal that it's okay to come out.

My bantams know that if I lean back and tap my chest they're allowed to fly up onto my chest and climb up to my shoulders for a snuggle (thought they're also sneaky and like to sometimes jump on my back when I'm not looking haha). They will also come into the house and climb the stairs if called.

All of my chickens respond to the 'chickie chickie chickie' call and will all come running.

My two bantams will also do 'kisses'. Basically, I gently press my mouth to the side of their necks and make a few little kissing sounds and then they will respond my making their own little slurping noise (since they obviously can't actually make a kissing sound). They're rewarded for it with more snuggles and kisses and it eventually becomes a game of who can make smooching noises the longest hahaha