New Opportunities for Gamefowl

[varidgerunner]

Interesting. Did you start with a mealworm and just make them go further and further to get it? Do you do public demonstrations of some sort?

 

[centrarchid]

Interesting. Did you start with a mealworm and just make them go further and further to get it? Do you do public demonstrations of some sort?

Yes, I started with mealworms although almost any insects would do. Mealworms are simply more cost effective. With some of the birds I started with brooder reared chicks where they were trained to come to when their name was called. I did not think such would work but only three days required. By the time they were 21 days old I trained them to fly up consistently and repeatedly about two feet to edge of livestock watering tub for a mealworm. Then they were trained to jump from there to my arm. During one 20 minute session I had them flying 4 feet horizontally from tub to my arm. After that I began working on distance flights from starting newel of staircase. Name usage was important later. American Dominiques did not learn as quickly nor where they as fanatical about flying to for eats. Additionally the brooder birds were actually imprinted on me although that is not practical when raising larger numbers of birds.


To increase the volume of birds trained I reared all of my brooder hens in this manner. Those hens would then run with their broods to me for little training sessions with their chicks which was very helpful. Doing so early no makes taming adult to handling much faster and complete. No genetic changes through selection are involved. If I were to have a trained hen rear a brood without me training a few minutes a few time while chicks are young, then I can again have face flogging psychopaths to start each pen in cockyard with where training for handling takes longer as is not as deep.


Yes, I do public demonstrations several times a year. Most are related to agriculture but some are actually of interest to folks that study wild birds. I have a half a dozen birds, mostly games, that I use to teach public about chickens as part of my job at a land grant university. My co-workers emphasize production methods for table-eggs and meat while I emphasize biology. The birds have to be tame enough to actually walk through and with a crowd of people which is pretty tough when people sometimes step on birds. I backed off on having people walking and now have them sitting so birds can walk up to them for some face time. Chickens will do absolutely everything in front of crowd. I can even get cock to point out a quality nesting site for a hen, something even the old timer chicken folks had never recognized at times.

 

[varidgerunner]

I have a little hatch hen that never has got the idea for eating food out of my hand. She finds it easier to bite my thumb to make me drop it.

 

[centrarchid]

Suck it up and let her peck you. Also hold mealworm between your thumb and fore-finger so as to make her work for her meal. Her aim will improve quickly to avoid wasting time. With a wild hen, put her in a pen at chest height and sit near her reading a book for an hour or so. Then give her one mealworm at a time on 10 minute intervals and avoiding looking at her while you do it. She will quickly get excited and eager to great you.

Show a picture of how she looks when you feed her.

 

[JShubin]

Do you think a rooster would willingly run in hampster wheel type of contraption?

I was also thinking... a log rolling type of competition for gamefowl... two roosters (seperated of course) would be on the same log (or perch) and as it moved they would struggle to maintain balance. The rooster who lasts the longest on the log or perch would be the winner.

 

[RingedTeal]

@JShubin what if it rolled over them ? I definitely wouldn't want to lose one that way. And also

 

[centrarchid]

@JShubin running sustained with such a motivator likely will not work. Consider simulating what occurs naturally when a stag chases a hen that is either not interested or testing him. That involves sustained chases with bouts of flight. It involves a natural running gate and mental stimulation at same time.

 

[JShubin]

@JShubin what if it rolled over them ? I definitely wouldn't want to lose one that way. And also

That was a cool video... it looks like the momentum kept him running on the wheel, or else he'd fall off.. He could have flown off any time, but it seems like he enjoyed it. Thanks for that. I might try something like that. I have an extra bike wheel already!

Regarding the log... I didnt mean an acutal log...Lol I was thinking more like a rolling perch that hung from something. I know hanging perches are a good way to strengthen your fowl... so why not make a competition where two fowl battle to stay on it. Would need to find a way to train or motivate the rooster to stay on the perch tho. Maybe if the perch was hanging over a body of water they'd want to stay on it.

 

[RingedTeal]

@JShubin

 

[centrarchid]

So you are looking to transform the birds into endurance athletes. I liked the treadmill option as that allowed for a more natural gate. It would be difficult to setup for sprinting.