Training Chickens

(Wait, what? Training Chickens? Uh oh, I think Maureen has actually lost her mind now.)

Okay, okay, while I'm not going to deny that I may have crossed the border into the cray-cray, all I can say is....It was Ryan's fault!!!!

Yes, I'm totally blaming my 11 year old son.

We saw a video that mypetchicken.com posted on their Facebook page that showed some animal scientists who were clicker-training chickens, similar to how you can train dogs. (Bob Bailey and Sophia Yin were two of these people.) Well, after seeing that, Ryan was sold. He was TOTALLY going to do this with our chickens. He was so excited to get started. And when your kids get *really excited* about something that doesn't involve screens or candy and it isn't dangerous, destructive, or totally annoying, how can you say no? Right? Right?

So, I didn't say no. Instead I pulled together the tools that he was going to need. He needed a training clicker and a cup full of chicken treats. He also needed a small red circle, a small blue square and a small green triangle. That's it! Simple! When he came home from school the next day everything was ready for him and he was totally psyched. We set up our "lab" in a horse stall and my little scientist was ready to prove to the world that his chickens were so smart!

Weeeelllll, what we actually learned was that our chickens were really cute, very sweet, and maybe not the brightest bulbs in the barn.

Except for one!

Just when we thought it was a hopeless situation, one of our hens proved us wrong! After so many failed attempts with most of our hens, we were so excited when this one hen really seemed to get it.
And when I say we had success with one hen, I am probably exaggerating. By success I mean that one hen seemed to understand that we were trying to teach her something. (As opposed to the confused, blank stares from the other hens! LOL) But did she truly learn the trick? I actually think she did, but only time and more training will tell for sure.

Any guesses on which hen it was?

We had so many laughs this weekend. Laughing at the chickens, and laughing at ourselves. And now that Ryan has had a taste of success, I'm sure he'll be trying to teach our hens, er, maybe just the ONE hen, more tricks. So stay tuned, there could be a "Training Chickens 2"! That is, if the guys with the straightjackets don't take me and Ryan away to the funny farm too soon!

(See what I did, there? Funny farm?) :)

Click on the link to watch our Chicken Training 1 video. Enjoy!: Chicken Training 1 Video


Update: Thanks for all the well wishes regarding my poison ivy situation! I really appreciate it and I'm now embarrassed about my whining. Happy to report that I'm off the prednisone, and the poison ivy seems to be on its way out. Both dogs have been groomed and I am continuously washing my hands with Tecnu soap and dishwashing liquid (both help wash the poison ivy oil away.) Thanks again for all the kind thoughts and prayers!

Good Morning, Glen Hill Farm. 6:30 a.m.
Couldn't believe the amazing sunrise today!