Hello brood!
It shouldn’t surprise most of you that chickens can be trained to a certain extent. Just about any animal will respond to classical or operational conditioning with the right approach and reward, and chickens are no different. I’ve trained some of my chickens to do simple tasks such as balance on my shoulder while I walk around but I’ve seen some pretty rad videos of people training chickens to run through obstacle courses or discriminate against particular shapes for a treat.
Chicken obstacle course and hoop training.
The first chicken I ever attempted to train was Silkadope, as mentioned in the September post. I started when she was a couple weeks old and decided to see if I could get her to go up and down the stairs by herself. I held her and placed her on each step as she was too small to jump up them herself. I then pressed against her back to get her down the stairs until she was comfortable to jump down herself. I did this for only about an hour and I meant to continue the training over the next few days, but I had forgotten. A few weeks later when she had her chicken diaper and was free to roam the house, she had gone missing. I finally found her when I decided to check upstairs and she was pecking around near my bed.
They may not have the capability to be trained to do advanced tricks or understand commands like dogs or cats, but that doesn’t mean chickens can’t be trained at all. Later that year I attempted to teach Silkadope’s mother, Dopey, to ride on the handlebars of my bike. She was a very docile hen and I began by simply placing her on the bar to get comfortable perching there. I then advanced the training by walking my bike as she perched and practiced stopping. Before long, I was riding down the road with her on my bike and several confused neighbors had called out, asking if I had a real chicken on my bike. I wish I had a picture of that moment, but instead, here is Nugget last year as a baby perching on my handlebars:
Now imagine this with a fully grown chook. Heads will turn.
A bit after that picture of Nugget was taken, I roamed UNE campus with her, Chickpea, and Chatter in the back crate of my bike as the Traveling Petting Zoo! In the future, I’d like to continue training my chickens in different creative ways. You can see how chickens can be trained to discriminate against certain shapes by checking out the Videos page and watching “The Private Life of Chickens” which is a documentary by BBC! Let me know if anyone figures out how to train them to stop pooing.
The Traveling Petting Zoo. It took them some adjusting to the bumpy ride.
Name Facts:
- The word chicken is gender neutral and can be used to refer to both males (rooster/cock) and females (hens). Babies are called chicks.
- A rooster under one year of age is called a cockerel.
- A hen under one year of age is called a pullet.
- Broilers are chickens raised specifically to eat. The breed most popularly eaten is the Cornish Cross.
- Popular breeds used for eggs are Rhode Island Reds and Plymouth Rocks.
- One of my roosters, Rumple, crows exactly like “Cock-a-doodle-doo!” It’s actually a pretty accurate onomatopoeia.
Trivia:
Send me an email to jjarvis1@une.edu with the answer to the monthly trivia and your name will be entered for a prize at the end of the semester. The more right answers you give, the higher chance you have of winning! What’s the prize, you ask? You have the choice between a carton of farm fresh eggs OR Chicken Run on DVD to be delivered to you at UNE! The trivia answer has to be emailed to me before the next trivia starts (December 1) to count, so don’t delay!
This month’s trivia is:
What is the scientific name for chicken?
Last month’s trivia was:
Q: What is the fear of chickens called? A: Alektorophobia
Congratulations to those who submitted the correct answer! Next month will be the last trivia so make sure you get your points in. The prize will be drawn January 1!
Happy November!
-Chicken John
UNE Chicken Club 