Trouble Update:
Our little Sebright "Trouble" is trained to come & land on my arm on command. (Or at least when I call AND have my treat pail.) She's a great flyer, fast, & impossible to catch if she decides to be. That's why I started working with her about 1-2 weeks ago. At first she merely hopped onto my hand from the roost. With 3-5 min per day, she will now fly up to 10 feet to reach me. She'll also fly down out of a tree or up from the ground. DD has mostly been working with her Dominique, "Bubbles," but she plays with Trouble too. DD can get Trouble to fly 3-4ft & land on her arm.
So far the only drawback is that Trouble follows me everywhere. Sometimes when I reach out to grab something I get a sebright on my arm. (But, she only gets rewarded when I call her 1st.) Of course before training she sometimes would try to land on my back, head, shoulder, etc. I have a strong swatting reflex when something is coming at me. The training helps us both build trust & teaches Trouble a more appropriate place to land.
I tried to get a pic of Trouble in flight. Lighting wasn't very good today but here are some action shots.
Mid-flight
Just before landing.
See how she sticks her feet out forward to grab hold of my arm? All I see are CLAWS coming at me. It's a trust exercise for both of us.
BTW- Trouble laid 4 eggs in 7 days. Now there are enough eggs for our family, so we don't have to fight over who gets to eat her cute little eggs. Of course, we'll still have to eat some orpington eggs if we want to make it a meal. DH calls Trouble our useless chicken. She hatched July 1st & just started laying a week ago. The eggs are pretty tiny. Oh well. I'm having fun with her.
Our little Sebright "Trouble" is trained to come & land on my arm on command. (Or at least when I call AND have my treat pail.) She's a great flyer, fast, & impossible to catch if she decides to be. That's why I started working with her about 1-2 weeks ago. At first she merely hopped onto my hand from the roost. With 3-5 min per day, she will now fly up to 10 feet to reach me. She'll also fly down out of a tree or up from the ground. DD has mostly been working with her Dominique, "Bubbles," but she plays with Trouble too. DD can get Trouble to fly 3-4ft & land on her arm.
So far the only drawback is that Trouble follows me everywhere. Sometimes when I reach out to grab something I get a sebright on my arm. (But, she only gets rewarded when I call her 1st.) Of course before training she sometimes would try to land on my back, head, shoulder, etc. I have a strong swatting reflex when something is coming at me. The training helps us both build trust & teaches Trouble a more appropriate place to land.
I tried to get a pic of Trouble in flight. Lighting wasn't very good today but here are some action shots.
Mid-flight
Just before landing.
See how she sticks her feet out forward to grab hold of my arm? All I see are CLAWS coming at me. It's a trust exercise for both of us.
BTW- Trouble laid 4 eggs in 7 days. Now there are enough eggs for our family, so we don't have to fight over who gets to eat her cute little eggs. Of course, we'll still have to eat some orpington eggs if we want to make it a meal. DH calls Trouble our useless chicken. She hatched July 1st & just started laying a week ago. The eggs are pretty tiny. Oh well. I'm having fun with her.
