The highlight of my day.

amity3520

Songster
10 Years
Sep 5, 2009
120
1
109
New Hampshire
My parents know how quirky our birds are, but they just didn't believe me with this one!

When my dad gets home from work at night he'll often let the chickens free range outside of their run for the couple hours before it gets dark, and their run opens right up into the goose run which is all fenced in and grassy, so it works out quite well. This, of course, distresses the geese, especially our gander, who feels it is his right to goose any intruder who comes near. Though they've been raised right next to the chickens their whole life they do NOT like sharing! The chickens are well aware of this and keep their distance, but still. This particular set of chickens have never really been huge fans of humans, and most certainly do not come when called. But after my dad closed the chickens in the coop last night he forgot to close the door to their run, so when he let them out this morning they were free ranging with the geese, and there was no time for him to go around and individually catch 9 chickens and put them all back in the run.

But today I walked into the goose run, and after having the same heart attack I always have when I see chickens giving themselves dust baths I started calling "chick chick" and they all ran towards me. Thinking that was odd, I decided to test them. They followed me around, probably expecting treats or something, but they've never done that. Then I walked into the chicken run to see if maybe I could trick them into going inside. They very obediently followed me in. Then I looked behind me and saw the two geese herding the chickens more closely than many border collies could do! Have any of you ever had your geese herd other animals?? I wish I could have gotten it on tape because it was so funny, the geese weren't even nipping, just bringing up the rear and making sure no chickens strayed from the group!


And this is why I love poultry.
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You have just joined the mixed poultry free range club! I let all my birds ( Seb geese and 3 breeds of chickens) range on our property when I'm home with no problems. They work out their own "pecking order". The chickens and geese always come when called. I make sure they get a treat when I call them, even if it's just a handful of scratch.
This way of training has enabled me to get the birds in the barn on very short notice with great success. Bad weather, lose dogs, hawks-I can get the birds rounded up quickly.
PLEASE NOTE: A couple of the chickens have become very pesty and follow us into the house when given a chance!
 
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