We trained ours by putting some dried beans in a plastic bottle and shaking it before we gave them a treat. It only took a few times for them to understand. I also called "CHICKIES" while I shook the bottle, so they learned that too. Now I don't even need the bottle. All I have to do is walk outside and call "CHICKIES", and everybody comes running - 10 chickens, 2 dogs & 2 cats!
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I have coffee in the morning with my chickens too, in my nightgown and robe, lol. My family and friends call me "Lisa" from Green Acres
The theme song from that show is our favorite around here. When folks ask where we live we just start singing it. And it just wouldn't seem normal if we got dressed to have coffee in the barn.
Funny story: I have always lived in a rural environment but my husband was a city boy. He was a pro athlete and lived a pampered life. Penthouse suite downtown, all glass & mirrors, remote control verticle blindes, resort living with maids, valets & doormen who brought the car up to the door all polished etc, etc, etc... I had 3 kids, 2 horses, a hound dog and 10 acres on an open range cattle ranch with a double wide mobile home in the middle of nowhere AZ. So.... the first elementary school event he attended as the new step dad, was a program in the school cafeteria where each class performs a song. Parents from our community dress the part...Cowboy/Farmer attire...the kids sang John Denver's "Grandma's Feather Bed" and acted it out. So when the line came up "It'd hold 8 kids and 4 hound dogs and a piggy we stole from the shed..." That's what we used as props, except they gave the piglet to the littlest kid who promptly dropped it and then the chase was on in the cafeteria. My new husband just stood there wide eyed & mouth agape then started singing "Green Acres" at the top of his lungs.
Now you would never know he hasn't lived anywhere but our home on the range. He loves all the animals and not having neighbors right at your doorstep and can't ever imagine living in the city again!
Mine come to anything that looks like a treat in your hand.
They know the sound of the lawn mower and know that there is going to be a ton of fresh cut grass in the yard. If they are locked in their run they sit at the gate the entire time i am cutting the grass.
My family and friends call me "Lisa" from Green Acres
(I've tried to ignore the fact that this is weird): when I clean house or cook, not thinking about anything in particular, I hum that darned Green Acres song!
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(I've tried to ignore the fact that this is weird): when I clean house or cook, not thinking about anything in particular, I hum that darned Green Acres song!
I think the "Here, chick, chick, chick!" call sounds sort of like a rooster's excited, "Tk, tk, TK, tk tk tk tk tk tk..." sound when he sees food to eat.
I always used that call when it was feeding time, and mine would come running and flapping from all over the yard.
Of course, my rooster also crowed when he heard my car come in the driveway, because he knew it was feeding time
, so I guess they can be trained to recognize any sound.