Tricks to Teach a Chicken

You can enroll your dog in classes to teach him tricks, but there's no formal education for chickens. That doesn't mean that your fowl friend isn't smart enough to learn. If you're patient and have some time to spend with her, you should be able to teach your chicken a range of simple tricks. If you find she has a flair for learning un-chicken-like activities on command, you can move on to more advanced tricks.

  1. Basic Tricks

    • Basic tricks many chickens can learn are "come" and "sit." Chickens are naturally submissive animals and hens can be taught to sit or come on command, especially if you don't have a rooster in your flock. That's because in the absence of a rooster, the girls will transfer their respectful, submissive behavior to you. Although chickens tend to be skittish, they do love their food. Take advantage of this and use food coupled with a verbal or other audible cue to give your chickens a positive association with coming when called and sitting on command.

    Show-Offs

    • If you want to move beyond the basics to some show-quality tricks, teach your chickens to respond to advanced commands. These can include flying onto or into your arms, picking a specific playing card from a group of cards, running through an obstacle course, leaping over chicken-sized hurdles or jumping through a hoop. Some musically inclined chickens have even been taught to play the piano or a child's xylophone.

    Training Techniques

    • Treats are a valuable resource when you're training chickens to do tricks. You need to pair the lure of a treat with an audible cue so your chickens associate the sound with the trick. The audible cue, whether it is a spoken word or a clicker like you would use when training a dog, is what tells the chicken which trick you want her to do. The food is used initially to entice your chicken into performing the trick, and the sound is made at the moment she does it. You then progress to making the audible cue, clicking the clicker for example, and rewarding her after she correctly performs the trick.

    Chicken Training Advice

    • Successfully using food as a means of training your chicken relies on her interest in getting a treat. If her crop is full, she will be less likely to want to perform, so you should schedule your training sessions for a time when you know she'll be hungry. Work with your birds in a comfortable, friendly environment, such as a room with the curtains drawn to reduce distractions. Some chickens may be more open to learning tricks while others might not be as receptive to training. If you have a stubborn chicken who just isn't into it, don't force the tricks on her. That will only frustrate both of you.