I cant help it...

[LittleBigBantam]

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?

 

[goldysgirl]

I have never done training beyond calling the flock and training them to go into coop for treats so I can shut them in mid-day if needed, but I have heard chickens can be trained to do tricks. I say "chick chick chick" with a specfic ring and give treats when I get a new flock and they quickly learn to come running when i say chick chick chick. You could pair the treat with her name instead if you like. I am thinking you could teach her to step up onto your hand with the same method you use for parrots...hold the treat in front in one hand and slide your other hand up to the bird. I would use the treat to try to lure her onto your hand and say a command like "step up" when she steps on your hand and immediately give the treat. With parrots, you can push your finger gently against their legs and they usually hop on, but i dont know if that will work with a chicken. I would google chicken training and bird training for ideas. Repetition and treats are the key with training. I would give little tiny healthy treats so you don't fill her up to much.

 

[LittleBigBantam]

I have never done training beyond calling the flock and training them to go into coop for treats so I can shut them in mid-day if needed, but I have heard chickens can be trained to do tricks. I say "chick chick chick" with a specfic ring and give treats when I get a new flock and they quickly learn to come running when i say chick chick chick. You could pair the treat with her name instead if you like. I am thinking you could teach her to step up onto your hand with the same method you use for parrots...hold the treat in front in one hand and slide your other hand up to the bird. I would use the treat to try to lure her onto your hand and say a command like "step up" when she steps on your hand and immediately give the treat. With parrots, you can push your finger gently against their legs and they usually hop on, but i dont know if that will work with a chicken. I would google chicken training and bird training for ideas. Repetition and treats are the key with training. I would give little tiny healthy treats so you don't fill her up to much.

Thanks! I'll deffinently try it!

 

[Willowspirit]

Yes! You can absolutely train her. It’ll be fun, too. One popular trick is to get a child’s xylophone and teach her to peck the keys. They can learn tunes even.

Mine jump up for treats. My Wyandottes jump on top of things and get treats for that. My little crippled runt girl knows her name for sure.

 

[chrissynemetz]

I know it's possible to train chickens to do tricks, I've seen it.
However I have no clue how you would go about doing it.....
I'm barely able to train my cats to use the litter box...

 

[Willowspirit]

[QUOTE="goldysgirl, post: 21767882, member: 56077] With parrots, you can push your finger gently against their legs and they usually hop on, but i dont know if that will work with a chicken. I would .[/QUOTE]

I have done this with a couple of chickens. It was slow but it did work.

 

[LittleBigBantam]

Wow thanks for all the tips guys! How should I teach her her name. I have a flock of 30 so it's kinda hard to single one out to train them

 

[chrissynemetz]

Good luck with the training, and let us know how it goes.

 

[goldysgirl]

I know it's possible to train chickens to do tricks, I've seen it.
However I have no clue how you would go about doing it.....
I'm barely able to train my cats to use the litter box...

Yes! You can absolutely train her. It’ll be fun, too. One popular trick is to get a child’s xylophone and teach her to peck the keys. They can learn tunes even.

Mine jump up for treats. My Wyandottes jump on top of things and get treats for that. My little crippled runt girl knows her name for sure.

That would be super cute! I bet you could put some crumbles on the xylophone to initially get her to peck at it and gradually transition to just rewarding once she has pecked the xylophone.

 

[goldysgirl]

Wow thanks for all the tips guys! How should I teach her her name. I have a flock of 30 so it's kinda hard to single one out to train them

It would probably be easier if you worked with her off to the side (for a few minutes here and there... you don't want to separate too long because chickens be crazy and try to attack strange chickens). If you try with the whole group with treats they will probably all be responding to her name. If you say her name then give her a treat she will think name=treat and i think she would eventually come running.