Chicken Training Tips
The Short-list:
- Start practicing!
- Plan out your act in advance.
- Film EVERYTHING (you never know what you might catch on tape!).
- Make sure that you find a treat your chicken really likes to motivate them.
- Make sure your chickens feel confident in their training environment and comfortable with you, their trainer.
- Training depends on the chicken more than the breed or age…know your chicken. Not every chicken will want to learn to do tricks.
- Train them where the other chickens are not around to interfere.
- Optional, create a start button behavior to start a training session.
- Start by teaching your chickens simple targeting skills.
- Chickens are drawn to red and green things.
- Older birds tend to do less jumping tricks.
- Have fun! Don’t train if you are feeling frustrated. The chickens will pick up on it and not want to perform.
- Be patient. Training takes time!
“For me, as a trainer, it is very important that [the chickens] like to engage in their own training. It’s not something I want to do to them, but want to do with them.”