Training a Rooster.

[Lady J]

What you do will depend on what it is exactly that you want from your chickens. Are they simply suppliers of eggs and occasional meat or are you interested in their behaviours and want to make pets of them? I appreciate my chickens as pets with benefits and really enjoy watching them live and do their thing in semi-natural flocks and because of that I tame or train, if you will, them all so I can get up close and personal with them while they go about their business and without them freaking out when I do interact with them. That means teaching each bird to accept being handled early on and that interacting with humans in general will do them no harm and might even be kind of pleasant. This is really no different than giving a puppy or foal or even a 4-H calf its own first lessons in how to behave around humans and tolerating the various things we want them to wear or to do. And while I don't think you can speak of chickens learning to be obedient, I do think they can get into the habit of being compliant if you're consistent in your own behaviour while you train them and interact with them.

There's also a major health benefit to having chickens that are used to being handled and aren't stressed out by it. It means you can easily monitor their weight and closely examine them on a routine, ongoing basis--which you should be doing anyway IMO--and if there ever is a medical emergency, you'll be able to readily catch your patient by just walking over and picking it up. My one olive egger pullet's tameness paid off big-time not that long ago when she began choking on some feed while outside and free up near the pens. I was able to just closely watch her at first, and once it became obvious that she was in trouble, was able to just lift her up on one of my knees while I sat on their park bench and then work on her with both hands while she continued to simply stand there, completely unrestrained. I don't know what might have happened had I needed to chase her around the yard in order to catch her. The sheer panic of trying to evade me might have proven too much for a bird having breathing difficulties and killed her. Instead, she cooperated fully, remained calm, and the issue was resolved.

Teaching a chicken to accept being picked up and held is also a low-key, non-confrontation method of enforcing your dominance which becomes especially valuable when dealing with roosters-to-be or even a new rooster. Roosters--again IMO--don't respond well when you use aggressive means to 'train' them. Yes, you can use rough methods or inflict pain that may well succeed in causing them to fear and avoid you, but honestly, what does that really say about you, that you're okay with your animals fearing you? Are you okay with your kids fearing you too? Your partner or your spouse? And the frank fact is that you can never fully trust an animal that only stays out of your way because it fears you. Some species are positively vindictive and I believe that chickens are among them. Roosters especially will remember every little slight and bit of ill treatment dealt them and may eventually retaliate if they see an opportunity to do so. On the other hand, they are equally appreciative of kindness and gentle handling and I've found that the majority of them will respond very well to positive-reinforcement type training. There's a pretty good article being featured on this site right now about how to train a chicken for show handling, and honestly, even if you never get past teaching your bird to accept being picked up and held and posed on a table--or your knee--without restraint, you'll have a very good start on establishing a respectful relationship with your rooster based on something a little more palatable than inflicting pain and fear.

Well, just my two cents worth. But then, I've always been a hen and rooster hugger!

You explained my thought process perfectly especially about teaching a chicken to accept being picked up and held as a low-key, more gentle approach to enforcing dominance vs rough, intimidating methods. I want them to associate my presence with something positive vs something to fear. Thank you for your post.

 

[Lady J]

I just wanted to update the status of the behavior of my rooster, especially since I got a little push back on my training method of choice. He is now 1-year-old and has yet to display any sign of aggression or posturing toward me. If anything, he has become more accepting of being picked up and held. Our occasional evening routine is for me to pick him up and set him in my lap while we watch his ladies enter the coop for the night. Once they have all gone in, I set him down and he puts himself up with them. All is good.