LGBTQ+ Poultry Keepers

[TwoCrows]

All the serama happily cuddle eachother and sleep on my shoulder. If you'd like a shoulder pet to help you with chicken chores, this is it. Especially Lady Gaga, and as an added bonus, even if he crows right into my ear, my eardrum won't die

Alright, it settled, I need a shoulder Serama!!

 

[fluffycrow]

I like that you can train them! I live in a forest, they'd disappear easily around here so they would definitely need to be supervised at free ranging and be trained to fly to me when needed!

I did it from a very young age, so now it's a learnt behavior. The girls aren't as good about it, but Lady Gaga is, and they follow him around like crazy. Actually most of the times I got close to losing them was because they decided to fly to him...while he was IN another coop

 

[fluffycrow]

Alright, it settled, I need a shoulder Serama!!

Did I mention they voluntarily fly on to my shoulder ?

 

[TwoCrows]

I did it from a very young age, so now it's a learnt behavior. The girls aren't as good about it, but Lady Gaga is, and they follow him around like crazy. Actually most of the times I got close to losing them was because they decided to fly to him...while he was IN another coop

Yes I would imagine training them as babies is easier. As long as Lady Gaga listens, the others will follow. I clicker trained my quail at a very young age to come to me or get into the coop when needed. If quail can learn such things, Seramas aught to be able to learn quite a bit more!

 

[TwoCrows]

Did I mention they voluntarily fly on to my shoulder ?

Oh I'm jealous! Now I just gotta get me Seramas!

 

[fluffycrow]

Yes I would imagine training them as babies is easier. As long as Lady Gaga listens, the others will follow. I clicker trained my quail at a very young age to come to me or get into the coop when needed. If quail can learn such things, Seramas aught to be able to learn quite a bit more!

That's so cool! I didn't think to use any training equipment, as I was starting to teach them this pretty early on, when they wouldn't accept food from my hand. I used what was given to me, which was the day itself, and the natural behavior of chickens. I'd let them out when it was almost time to go to the roost. When they started showing signs of wanting to go to bed, I put them on a ledge, and then spread out my arm, making sure it was higher than the ledge they were on. Naturally, they wanted to get higher up, so they flew to my arm. By doing this they associated my arm with a safe space (because what's safer than the spot you're going to sleep in, in other words the spot you're at your most vulnerable) after a week or so they'd all fly to my arm, even directly from the ground. As they matured, I was able to translate this to something I could use all day. By using Lady Gaga to be more precise. I had already instilled in him the idea that the arm was a safe space. As he was getting more confident with his crowing, he would look for a place that is high up, and safe. Boom. My arm. Now he will even descend from a tree to come crow on my arm (sometimes with a little encouragement) just because he knows that it is always a safe space, where he will be higher than any other male around. By securing Lady Gaga, I can have some control over where the girls fly. But clicker training a serama would be suuuuuuuper cool, I'd LOVE to see a thread all about the process

 

[fluffycrow]

Oh I'm jealous! Now I just gotta get me Seramas!

You do !

 

[TwoCrows]

That's so cool! I didn't think to use any training equipment, as I was starting to teach them this pretty early on, when they wouldn't accept food from my hand. I used what was given to me, which was the day itself, and the natural behavior of chickens. I'd let them out when it was almost time to go to the roost. When they started showing signs of wanting to go to bed, I put them on a ledge, and then spread out my arm, making sure it was higher than the ledge they were on. Naturally, they wanted to get higher up, so they flew to my arm. By doing this they associated my arm with a safe space (because what's safer than the spot you're going to sleep in, in other words the spot you're at your most vulnerable) after a week or so they'd all fly to my arm, even directly from the ground. As they matured, I was able to translate this to something I could use all day. By using Lady Gaga to be more precise. I had already instilled in him the idea that the arm was a safe space. As he was getting more confident with his crowing, he would look for a place that is high up, and safe. Boom. My arm. Now he will even descend from a tree to come crow on my arm (sometimes with a little encouragement) just because he knows that it is always a safe space, where he will be higher than any other male around. By securing Lady Gaga, I can have some control over where the girls fly. But clicker training a serama would be suuuuuuuper cool, I'd LOVE to see a thread all about the process

Oh this sounds SO cool! Definitely if you work with them on their level, think like they think, you can definitely train then to move where you want them to be! I would love to have a bird fly up on my arm on command or arm jesture!! ❤

Early on in my quail keeping adventures I had a couple of "emergencies" that warranted moving 36 quail very quickly out of aviary. The first was a roof collapse from snow, and I'm surprised I didn't loose any with the big gaping hole all night, . And the second was a rattle snake curled up right inside by the door, I nearly stepped on the darn thing! BUT....in both of these cases, quail are everywhere, hiding under brush, roosting high in branches, I needed to move them and quick! After these disasters it came to me one day....a clicker and a command! I started by putting a tray of goodies in their coop and set a bird on the steps, he would see the food and call the others in. So there I was clicking this clicker saying, "in the coop" over and over. They are all staring at me like "what is wrong with you" as this male boy is in the coop hogging down on the goodies by himself! Anyway, I kept at this daily for a few weeks and eventually all I had to do was click the clicker and say In the Coop, and they lined up single file and all went in! It came in handy for bad rain storms, aviary clean up and cold nights when I'd rather they'd sleep inside.

 

[fluffycrow]

Oh this sounds SO cool! Definitely if you work with them on their level, think like they think, you can definitely train then to move where you want them to be! I would love to have a bird fly up on my arm on command or arm jesture!! ❤

Early on in my quail keeping adventures I had a couple of "emergencies" that warranted moving 36 quail very quickly out of aviary. The first was a roof collapse from snow, and I'm surprised I didn't loose any with the big gaping hole all night, . And the second was a rattle snake curled up right inside by the door, I nearly stepped on the darn thing! BUT....in both of these cases, quail are everywhere, hiding under brush, roosting high in branches, I needed to move them and quick! After these disasters it came to me one day....a clicker and a command! I started by putting a tray of goodies in their coop and set a bird on the steps, he would see the food and call the others in. So there I was clicking this clicker saying, "in the coop" over and over. They are all staring at me like "what is wrong with you" as this male boy is in the coop hogging down on the goodies by himself! Anyway, I kept at this daily for a few weeks and eventually all I had to do was click the clicker and say In the Coop, and they lined up single file and all went in! It came in handy for bad rain storms, aviary clean up and cold nights when I'd rather they'd sleep inside.

That is a really good idea! I might have to try this with the birds that don't like flying to me

 

[TwoCrows]

That is a really good idea! I might have to try this with the birds that don't like flying to me

Definitely give it a try! Use food, its a huge motivator and helps them learn faster. Keep me posted on this, I have never trained chickens, I'm curious!