Can Chickens Be Trained Like Dogs? Unleashing Their Intelligence

Chickens, often seen as simple farm animals, possess a surprising level of intelligence that allows them to perform complex tasks through positive reinforcement training. This article explores how chickens can be trained to behave and perform like domesticated dogs, using methodologies such as clicker training and positive reinforcement.

Training Chickens with Positive Reinforcement

Positive reinforcement training for chickens involves rewarding desired behaviors through treats and consistent praise, much like training a dog. This method taps into the natural inclination of chickens to seek out rewards and repetitive reinforcement to understand and remember the desired actions.

Step 1: Establishing Home - Begin by ensuring your chickens understand where their home is. Keep them in a penned area for a couple of weeks before allowing them to range freely. This helps them learn that returning to the coop/run is a safe and comfortable place.

How to Train Chickens to Come and Return to Their Coop/Run

The key to successfully training your chickens is using a consistent and custom chicken call, along with a variety of treats.

Materials Needed:

Treats (such as kitchen scraps or birdseed) A distinctive chicken call

Training Process:

Step 1: Establish Familiarity with Home

Pen the chickens for a couple of weeks to ensure they know where their home is. This also helps them learn the routine of coming and going.

Step 2: Choose and Acquire Treats

Identify treats that your chickens find irresistible. Kitchen scraps, particularly leafy greens and fruit slices, or a handful of black oil sunflower seeds, are good choices.

Step 3: Reward Desired Behaviors

Bring treats to the coop daily and use your chicken call to signal the beginning of the training session. Use a sing-song “hey chicky chickies!” and a “ladies ladies come home!” as your custom call. Distribute treats as you call them into the coop, encouraging them to come and investigate for their rewards.

Step 4: Gradually Increase Range

Once they are consistently coming to the coop, start letting them out about an hour before dusk. This natural inclination to return home around feeding time can help them associate the call with returning. After a week of successful training, you can extend their range and see how well they come back.

Step 5: Develop Routine

After a successful routine, you can condition them to return even without treats by gradually reducing the frequency of rewards. Over time, they will learn to investigate the coop out of habit, regardless of whether treats are available.

Advanced Training: Teaching Chickens to Play Checkers

While basic commands and recall are more common, the intelligence of chickens can be pushed further. One notable example is their ability to play checkers, a testament to their advanced learning capabilities.

Clicker training, a widely recognized method, was actually developed using chickens. Clicker training involves rewarding desired behaviors immediately with a click and a treat, reinforcing the correct response.

How to Use Clicker Training with Chickens

Step 1: Introduce the Clicker

Start by introducing the clicker to your chickens, ensuring they understand that a click followed by a treat means they did something correct. Use the clicker in conjunction with the treat to establish this association.

Step 2: Define Clear Behaviors

Identify specific behaviors you wish to train (such as coming to the call, recognizing a particular command, or going into the coop). Use the clicker and treat to reinforce these behaviors.

Step 3: Consistent Reinforcement

Continuous and consistent reinforcement is crucial. Each time the desired behavior is performed, the click and treat should follow. Over time, reduce the frequency of treats as they learn to associate the clicker with the behavior.

Conclusion

Chickens, much like dogs, can be trained using positive reinforcement techniques, including clicker training, to perform a variety of tasks and respond to commands. Their intelligence and ability to learn are far greater than commonly perceived, making them not only capable but also fun and rewarding companions for anyone looking to train farm animals.

For those interested in pushing the boundaries of chicken training, advanced training methods can help unlock their full potential, such as teaching them simple games like checkers. Clicker training, developed for chickens, offers a clear and effective way to achieve these goals.