Chickens are surprisingly intelligent animals that can be trained to follow simple commands and perform tricks. While not as easy to train as dogs or cats, chickens are capable of learning through positive reinforcement training. With time and patience, you can teach your chickens some fun and useful skills.
Why Train Chickens?
Here are some of the key benefits of chicken training:
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Bonding Training is a great way to bond with your chickens and build trust. As you work together your chickens will come to see you as their flock leader.
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Safety: You can train chickens to come when called or go into their coop. This is useful for getting them to safety quickly.
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Entertainment: Training chickens to do tricks like obstacle courses or playing instruments provides fun activities for both you and your chickens.
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Eggs You can train chickens to lay eggs in their nesting boxes, making it easier to collect the eggs
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Behavior: Training can curb undesirable behaviors like fighting with flockmates or going into off-limit areas.
How to Train a Chicken
Follow these steps for training success:
1. Use Positive Reinforcement
The most effective training method for chickens is positive reinforcement, This means rewarding desired behaviors and ignoring unwanted ones,
Treats make great rewards for chickens. Small pieces of cooked egg, mealworms, chopped grapes, and corn work well. Give an immediate reward when your chicken performs the desired action.
Avoid punishment, as this will just make your chicken fearful.
2. Set Up Training Sessions
Plan short 5-10 minute training sessions 2-3 times per day. Chickens have short attention spans. Keep sessions positive, upbeat, and engaging.
Work with one chicken at a time in a quiet area without distractions at first. Once the chicken learns the skill, you can train with more chickens present.
3. Break Down the Skill
Don’t expect too much too fast from your chickens. Break the skill down into small, achievable steps. Reward each step before moving onto the next.
For example, to teach a chicken to spin in a circle, first reward for turning its head to the side, then for taking a step sideways, then for walking in a small circle, and finally for spinning completely around.
4. Use Targeting and Luring
For skills that involve moving to specific locations, use targets and lures. Targets can be sticks, cones, or your hand. Lures involve holding out a treat to get their attention and leading them.
Place targets where you want the chicken to go, such as in a hoop for jumping through. Lure the chicken towards the target with a treat and reward when they touch or interact with the target.
5. Be Patient!
Chicken training takes immense patience. Some skills may take days or weeks before the chicken understands what you want them to do. Stay calm, keep sessions positive, and stick with it.
Not all chickens will readily train either. Focus on naturally curious and food-motivated chickens first before trying to train more aloof or skittish ones.
What to Train Chickens to Do
Here are some fun and useful chicken tricks to try teaching:
- Come when called
- Walk on a leash
- Follow a target stick
- Ring a bell for treats
- Jump through a hoop
- Run an obstacle course
- Stand on a platform or box
- Spin in a circle
- Play with toys
- Get weighed on a small scale
- Stay off forbidden areas like gardens
- Return to the coop
Training Chickens to Come When Called
Calling chickens to come to you is an extremely useful skill for their safety and makes catching them easier. Here’s how to train it:
Gather Supplies
- Treats – small pieces of chicken, grapes, mealworms
- Clicker (optional)
- Whistle or phrase for calling (example: “Here, chick chick!”)
Steps
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Practice calling and immediately rewarding with treats, but without requiring them to come to you yet. Repeat this over several days.
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Call the chicken, take a few steps back, and reward when they follow you. Increase distance over time.
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Practice calling when they are further away or distracted. Reward quickly when they come to you.
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Phase out food rewards slowly once they respond reliably. Still give occasional treats to maintain the behavior.
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Practice calling them while free-ranging. If they don’t respond, go get them and lead them to you for a reward.
Be patient and consistent! With regular 15 minute training sessions, most chickens will learn this within 1-2 weeks.
Training Chickens to Return to the Coop
Teaching your flock to go back to the coop on their own in the evening will save you time and make sure they are safely shut in for the night.
Supplies Needed
- Treats
- Clickers or noisemakers (optional)
Steps
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Feed treats to your flock inside the coop for a few days, so they associate it with rewards.
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Stand outside the coop and reward chickens as they enter on their own.
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Practice going further away from the coop and calling/rewarding them as they run back into the coop.
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Work up to calling them from free-ranging to return. If they don’t listen, herd them back into the coop yourself and reward.
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Play a noisemaker or shake a treat bucket when it’s time to return. The sound will become their cue.
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Lock them into the coop at night to reinforce it as their sleeping space.
It will take repetition and time before the flock reliably returns to the coop each evening. Be patient and keep training sessions upbeat and fun for best results.
Training Chickens to Lay in Nest Boxes
While chickens have a natural instinct to lay eggs in a safe, secluded space, you still may end up with eggs laid willy-nilly around the run. Here is how to encourage proper nest box use:
Supplies
- Fake plastic eggs or golf balls
- Treats
- Nesting box bedding/litter
Steps
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Place several fake eggs in the nest boxes to show chickens that’s where eggs belong.
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Stand by the nest boxes when you let your flock out in the morning, as this is when they are most likely to lay.
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Reward chickens immediately with treats if they investigate or enter the nest boxes.
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Play “egg songs” on a Bluetooth speaker near the nest boxes to further reinforce that’s the egg laying spot.
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If you find eggs outside of nests, place them into the nesting boxes.
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Add fresh, inviting bedding and litter to make nest boxes comfortable and appealing.
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Consider reducing light intensity in the coop to make nest boxes more attractive dark spaces.
With a little effort, your flock should catch on soon that the nest boxes are the right place to lay their eggs. Check for eggs frequently at first to reward chickens ASAP.
Final Tips for Training Chickens
Here are a few final tips to set you and your chickens up for training success:
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Start training chicks young if possible so they grow up comfortable with handling.
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Work in short sessions so you don’t overload your chicken. End on a positive note.
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Use a clicker for precise timing of rewarding desired behaviors.
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Motivate aloof chickens by only feeding treats during training.
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Train your most food-driven chickens first. The flock will follow their lead.
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Handle and inspect your chickens frequently so they get used to human interaction.
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Remain patient and committed. Chicken training takes time and repetition!
With the right techniques and lots of encouragement, you’ll be amazed at what your flock can learn. Training chickens is a great way to engage with them and show off just how clever chickens are!
# Come when Called
After the obstacle course, training my chickens to come when called is probably my second favorite chicken trick to teach. I free-range my flock on the homestead, so whenever I want to put them in their enclosure, I just call for them and they come running!
Every spring and summer I have to teach this trick to the new pullets and cockerels I raise. It helps that my older flock is already trained. The younger birds take their cue from the older flock and learn very quickly!
Training chickens to come when called requires two things: a marker action or word, and treats! The marker action that I use is running/walking to the coop while clapping my hands. You can also use a verbal phrase to call your chickens as well. Make sure the action is loud enough that your hens can hear you even when they are far away.
Next, have some treats in a bag. I find that re-using old chicken treat bags work best. When I shake the bag, the contents rattle around and make noise. My flock loves the sound of a shaking treat bag! If the first marker cue isn’t enough, the rattling of the bag is usually enough motivation for the stragglers to hustle on over so that they don’t miss the treats.
You can actually train your chickens to be friendly! Friendliness training is often best started at a very young age. However, you can still teach older hens to become friendly too. All it requires is some high-value treats and patience.
Start off by teaching your chickens that seeing you means treats. And don’t throw the treats! Sprinkle them around your feet so that your hens have to come near you to eat the treats. After they are comfortable with that, squat down near them while they are eating the treats. Chickens often get frightened when something stoops down near them or over them, it’s just an instinctual response. Conditioning them to you moving up and down will make for less flighty hens.
The next step would be to get them comfortable with eating out of your hand. Then, while they are eating, slowly start petting them. Once they are used to your touch, you can incorporate in picking them up for brief periods of time. Do this gently and slowly, and never chase the chicken you want to pick up! Repeated treat time and holding time will condition your flock to being around and near you.
Once you have a friendly chicken, you can even teach it to give hugs! Simple squat down near the chicken and offer treats over your shoulder. The chicken will have to nuzzle up near your neck in order to reach over your shoulder to get the treats. You can even teach the hen to hug on cue by teaching her a command!
Training a show chicken is important if you plan on attending and participating in poultry shows. However, even if you don’t show your chickens, training them to do some of the show skills is fun and helpful!
Of course, you will have to condition your chicken to be held in the proper showing manner as well as get them used to you flipping them upside down and examining their different body parts. However, one of the most important and hardest skills to train your showchicken to do will be to pose.
Posing means the chicken has to stand in the proper posture for its breed. It must also stay still for a lengthy period of time. Chickens who are as close to their breed standard as possible will not have too much of a problem with striking the right pose. Many breeders breed their chickens to have the proper composition for their breed, which thus ensures the proper posing posture.
Either way when a chicken is posed, it must have its head up, its tail held at a certain angle, and its feet evenly spaced apart. Show chickens should be taught to hold this pose for a lengthy period of time. They should also be used to you walking around them and even to you using a posing stick if necessary.
Training your chicken to pose will take time and patience. Handle your bird A LOT. Continually posing, repositioning, and treating will be necessary. Remember to always make the training session an enjoyable experience for both you and the bird!
# Play a Musical Instrument
While I actually haven’t tried this myself, I do know that chickens can be taught to play certain musical instruments! Two common instruments that chickens can play are the xylophone and the keyboard.
You can just have your hens peck out a random tune, or actually teach them to peck at certain keys and play a song. The easiest way to teach a hen to play a tune would be to place treats on the keys you want her to peck at. Keep it simple at first. Only do a few keys at a time. Slowly lengthen the number of keys she has to remember to peck at. Constant repetition and reward will help your hen memorize her tune!
When choosing a chicken to train to a musical instrument, pick an assertive hen. A hen who naturally pecks hard will be able to play better than a light pecker. Food motivation and long attention span are also important when choosing a musically talented hen!
HOW TO TRAIN BACKYARD CHICKENS | Friendlier Chicks, Egg Laying Hen Recall, Break/Prevent Bad Habits
FAQ
Are chickens easy to train?
Like mentioned before: treats, treats, treats. But they actually enjoy interaction and learning new stuff so chickens are fairly easy to train. And their memories are excellent. They remember kindness (and cruelty).
How do you discipline chickens?
Perhaps the most humane way to do this is to show dominance similarly to how you’d train a dog. For chicken domination, at first sign of attack, reach down, grab the bird by the feet, turn it upside down—ignore the squawking—and tuck it under your arm like a football.
How to train a chicken to love you?
Just spend time next to them without trying to hold or grab them. Place the treat bag near you or even scatter treats on you or around your chair. If you appear uninterested in them, they will start bothering you for attention. Let them roost on your chair. Repeat this every day and be consistent. You will be rewarded.
How do you train a chicken?
This can range from simple natural tasks like training to sleep in the coop or lay in the nesting box, but can also reinforce behaviors like coming when they are called or being picked up. Depending on the task, chickens can be trained rather easily, and just need repeated exposure to the task and the associated reward.
How do you start training your chickens to be friendly?
To start training your chickens to be friendly, begin by teaching them that seeing you means treats. All it requires is some high-value treats and patience. And don’t throw the treats!
What can chickens be trained to do?
Chickens can be trained to come when called, stay inside a coop, swim, walk on a leash, stay off a porch, or even talk. Chickens can do simple tricks to far more complex tasks when given positive reinforcement, such as a food reward. Chicken training is possible once you learn its needs and plan a good chicken training process.
How to train a chicken with a hoop?
Do not start the training with the hoop too far or too near. Enough distance is necessary. The hoop should touch the ground at first so that the chicken can start from walking into the hoop to jumping. Remember to take things slowly. The basic training about target training your chicken is helpful at this step.
How do you train a chicken to eat treats?
Just remember, you don’t want to sit there feeding them treats for an hour. At the start reinforce every successful behavior with a treat, and try to break it down into steps for your chickens. Once they are getting the hang of it you can make the treats much less frequent. What Can You Train Your Chickens To Do?
How do you train a chicken to follow a command?
Positive reinforcement is crucial for training chickens. By using rewards like treats, your chickens will associate good behavior with positive outcomes. When your chickens successfully follow a command, praise them and offer a treat immediately to reinforce the desired behavior.