Training Chickens Where Not to Go?

[peterlund]

Well, I was thinking about a squirt gun in addition to the stick!

I'll stick with it awhile longer and see if they can get the message. Yesterday only about 8 of them insisted on coming onto the patio so I'm over half way there!

Hose..... on jet.. they get the idea, but alas they do forget in a few days....

 

[Patinas]

Update... I resorted to the hose this afternoon... and yes, on jet and it worked! We had like 4 hours of no chickens on the patio after chasing about six of them off with the hose!

 

[Patinas]

You're already on your way to successfully train your chickens to stay away from the patio by using aversion therapy. Anything that chickens find unpleasant will work, but you need to be consistent and persistent.

The hose left an impression on them today! I have high hopes they will learn to keep off the patio! I'll update this when I'm confident they've learned their lesson!

 

[tthessen]

The hose left an impression on them today! I have high hopes they will learn to keep off the patio! I'll update this when I'm confident they've learned their lesson!

Hey Patinas! I was just about to post a separate thread on this exact topic, but ours is the front porch and it's guineas not our chickens... Wondering what happened... did the hose work longer term!? My husband is at his wits end with the poop on the front porch!

 

[~KH~]

With my first group of 5 chickens, I did successfully teach them to stay off the large patio off the back of my house. I consistently shooed them off and after awhile, they found other places to be. When they were a year old, one of them died unexpectedly and when we introduced 2 new chicks another year later, my old flock of 4 was still staying off the patio, but the 2 new ones didn't seem to understand, so I ended up getting a poultry fence from Premier (never electrified it). So although I did train the first group, I'm not sure what or why it worked and didn't with the other 2.

 

[Patinas]

Hey Patinas! I was just about to post a separate thread on this exact topic, but ours is the front porch and it's guineas not our chickens... Wondering what happened... did the hose work longer term!? My husband is at his wits end with the poop on the front porch!

Unfortunately, no, I was not able to train them to keep off the patio. Most of them avoid it except when it rains, but my friendlier feathered friends still want to be on the patio when I'm outside. I think they are also drawn to the back patio door because it is all glass in a wood frame so they can totally see me when I'm inside so several of them will gather on the stoop and just stand there watching me.

I have noticed when it rains hard, they all want to hang out under the covered patio so as the rainy days start to outnumber the dry ones, I'll keep them in their run and give them things to do/eat that will keep them entertained. I don't see any point to letting them out if they are just going to sit on the patio and poop!

The training may have worked if I'd stuck with it for several months but I ended up giving up because it was becoming too time consuming to be consistent with them. Now, I just hose off any poop from the day before and it starts all over again.