We may be feeding them too many treats

[jenn-E]

My chickens may not be as "tame" as some peoples, but they do know that people are the source of treats. Most days they get some sort of treat- sometimes just food scraps or stale bread. They come running anytime we open the back door. The problem is that the past few days they have come running when we open the driveway gate to put our cars away. I'm afraid they're going to get run over. Of course my response was to have my son feed them some sunflower seeds away from the driveway, which only reinforces their behavior

 

[teach1rusl]

I know what you're talking about. I have to make a mad dash out to my car when I'm trying to leave, because if they see me they come running and end up flocking around the car...

 

[Olive Hill]

Just drive slowly, they'll move. I've yet to hit a chicken -- or a duck or a goose or a turkey, for that matter -- they learn to move with a little time and reinforcement.

 

[bunnibird55]

I'm afraid I have reinforced this type behavior with my 40 chickens! When they hear the back door, they come on a run around the garage from the barn. This means every time we are trying to leave, we wind up having to give a treat before we can even back out of the garage! They are just so cute as they flock around us begging that I just can't resist giving them treats. We have even kept a bag of safflower seeds and some stale bread in the garage so we can throw a couple handfuls out to the far side of the garage to give us enough time to back out!