Ulrike Kraft wrote:
We never take the eggs they want to hatch, only the ones they "give" to us.
That's so nice

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I've read stories about chickens and how wonderfully social they are and also so interactive with humans. Must be nice to have some living yith you...
I trained chickens only at the Chicken Camp clinic and there the approach was a rather strict one, adhering closely to clicker training rules. We did very short sessions (30 seconds at first) after which we wrote a report and how we intend to progress. We started the chickens right with operant conditioning, usually some form of targeting or free shaping.
We had a useful tool which made our work a lot easier - it's what I am holding in my hand on the picture above. It was a small sieve, with a clicker taped to its handle

. That way, we could click and quickly deliver the food (mostly grain and corn), with one smooth movement and not risking to lose either food or the clicker. Since chicken are really fast, it proved wise to cover the sieve with the other hand

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I guess though, had I my own chickens, I would try to work just like I do with my horses

. It was fun though, to do some SERIOUS training for once

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