If you haven’t already figured it out by now, chickens are pretty intelligent creatures. Their capacity to learn gives keepers the opportunity to train them to do some useful things. Whether you’re looking to improve their behavior or teach them tricks to impress your friends, your flock definitely has the potential to do so. Here are 5 things you can train your chickens to do this year.
1. Play An Instrument
Sure, you probably won’t see a chicken playing the trumpet anytime soon. We’re talking more about keyboards, pianos, and xylophones. Chickens can be trained to peck a specific key to play a tune. This can easily be done by placing treats on the keys you want pressed. Take it slow, and make sure your chicken remembers the last key before adding another one to the mix. Eventually your chicken will remember an entire melody. It’s best to pick an assertive hen for this task, as they will be more likely to hit the keys hard enough to make a sound. Be sure to reinforce the behavior with treats and you’ll have a feathered Beethoven in no time!
2. Strike A Pose
This is a good skill to have if you’re looking to show your chickens. If not, it’s a great way to get those captivating photos for your social media pages! Posing requires a chicken to stand tall with its feet evenly spaced apart, head up, and tail elevated at the perfect angle. This will probably take some time, but it will be worth it! Continuously handle, reposition, and pose your chicken while providing lots of treats. This will slowly warm your chicken up to the process to hopefully become a fun bonding activity for the two of you. Remember to have fun with it, and never force a chicken into doing something if it is showing signs of aggression.
3. Mental Exercises
Don’t just work their bodies, work their minds too! You can teach your chickens fun little brain games involving cards, cones, and more. Chickens can be trained to make a figure 8 around cones, then to walk the other direction on command. They can also be taught to peck at objects of a certain color, and they can learn how to peck at playing cards. There are endless brain games you can experiment with, so don’t be afraid to use your creativity!
4. Laying Eggs In Nesting Boxes
This might be something your flock learns on its own, but it’s certainly a great skill! Instead of going on an egg hunt every morning, you can have one designated location for your hens to lay their eggs. Some hens have a more difficult time learning this than others, but that’s nothing some positive reinforcement can’t fix!
Taking a close look at your flock will help guide you to understand what tricks and useful things they might be quicker to pick up on. If your flock already does some or all of the above, then you probably tend to have a good time around the coop! With patience and practice, your chickens will become the neighborhood’s entertainment in no time.