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[mathewjenkinson]

Hi all.

 

Some advice is needed PLEASEEEEEEEEEE

 

For the last 4 weeks the girls have been waking up at 4 / 5ish and trying to practise their opera voices at full pelt.

 

1) Their house and run is right under my bedroom window so im instantly woke up to whatever rendition they are practising that morning.

 

2) Im worried that a neighbour is starting to crack.. and I cant have that lol.

 

At the mo the only way I have found to make them go Sushhhhhhh is to give them something to eat by hand - putting food out doesnt seem to be good enough it has to be hand fed.

 

I need to get this behaviour out of them because lack of sleep is starting to make me go a bit

 

Id rather not lock them up in the house / cage in the garage as the girls dont take kindly to this and dont give me any eggs for the day.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Many thanks!

Mathew

[House MD 221B]

We had a similar problem and we solved it using canine psychology, in the same way that dogs like to be part of a pack and have a pack leader (human) Chickens like being part of a flock and having a Head Chicken (human).

 

A surprising amount of what Caeser Milan's Dog Psychology can be used on Chickens to great affect.

 

For example The chickens want attention / food from your hand / letting out at that time in the morning... they make noise, and so you go and give them what they want, therefore they've learned behaviour that is negative in order to get the attention and desired result.

 

The Key is breaking this routine. And it isn't easy.

 

For a while you're still going to have to be getting up when they wake you up, but instead of giving them what they want, you need to be poking your head out the window or back door and loudly saying "Shhh!" or "Quiet!" doesn't matter which but be CONSISTANT, same tone of voice, same volume. The sharpness and speed of the noise are important as it instantly distracts them from what they are doing, you may need to be down there with them so that they think you'll "Peck" them,

 

(See this thread for more on what that means:

Re: Why is he doing this?

Wed Feb 08, 2012 11:45 pm

 

All about dominance, our first girl Poach was very pecky, and it's all about being the head chicken, she wanted to be the head chicken, because she was the head of the flock, but she needed to learn that WE were the head chickens, and that while she may control the flock, WE controlled ALL of them, so we had access to her, and the others.

 

Basic Chicken Psychology applies.

 

Maintained eye-contact, prolonged, no glancing away, firm fixed stare. The way a chicken wards off another chicken, is a fixed stare, if the other chicken doesnt get the hint, then a lunge, then a lunge followed by a peck until she learns to wait for the food. So the same goes, fixed stare at the eyes, firm voice, and confidence.

 

Never back away, if he charges or is pecking at your feet, ALWAYS move TOWARDS, you are dominant, backing away or retreating will be seen as weak, the cockerel must move where YOU want him to, not you moving where he wants you to. it's your space, and he is your boy.

 

Pecking, essentially you need to "peck" him, but of course you can't litterally "peck" him, it's wierd. But what we did with Poach, was with a single index finger, a gentle but firm prod around the flank / wing so she got a gentle shove sideways (seriously, NOT hard) it's the equivelent of a peck, she moves, she knows it's your space, you've asserted dominance.

 

Voice, voice is important, our girls recognise a few words and phrases mostly by tone but also by length, "no" and "quiet" for example when one tries to peck another "no" usually nips it in the bud before it happens, and when they're being grumbly, "quiet" usually gets a short term reaction, obviously alarm calls we go running to make sure they're ok. But they also understand "It's ok", and "you're all right" and it calms them down immediately after an alarm call.

 

If at any point your harming the chicken you're doing it wrong, but everything should be designed to control the behaviour, and you'll feel a bit of a tool doing it.

 

But after a couple of weeks of daily interaction, doing all of the above, we not only stopped her pecking us, but pecking the other chickens. and she even would go into the submissive posture when we went near her to pick her up. She was good as gold for the rest of her life, she never pecked us, and we even minimised any bullying towards the other girls.

 

I hope this helps, and I won't deny you look a plonker doing this in your garden, but it worked, and for the two weeks of looking an idiot, we had a perfectly behaved chicken, that could even be held by strangers. It had no impact on her position or functioning of being head chicken with the others, but she knew we were the bosses, and she used to run to see us, and we'd chase each other around the garden and treats.

 

We even got them to learn "up" and "down" on the low internal garden walls through the treat process, and she'd come and sit on my knee etc. It sounds harsh and it looks silly, but i really can't recommend it enough.

Rob + Sally.

 

 

 

House MD 221B

Frequent Layer

 

Posts: 220

Joined: Sun Sep 13, 2009 6:34 pm

Location: Isle of Wight

)

 

But you must not give them food, affection etc. They should go quiet each time you do this, HOWEVER they WILL start up again and you need to repeat this exercise. It will take time it is frustrating, but you ONLY give them affection, food from the hand at a time that YOU don't mind getting up and doing it.

 

They will slowly learn that their noisyness doesn't get them what they want. And that they get given what they want by the Head Chicken when they may have it.

 

Assert your dominance and reprogram their learned behaviour and over time they will get this. Our girls used to do the same but through doing this now they don't make a peep unless we oversleep and it's like 10am.

 

 

Also this link may help: http://jackshenhouse.com/VSChickBehavior.htm

 

Good Luck and hope this was helpful.

[chickanne]

Agree big time with HouseMD. They are very trainable. I use the holding up a finger and saying "No" when they try to peck their way into my hand where a treat is concealed. If they ignore that they get a "peck" from the finger - a push that moves their head away and I hold the finger up again.

 

I've noticed the noise level increasing in the morning as it is getting lighter. No routine is certainly better than having one if they are of this ilk. We have a "no-pattern" of bedroom door open/closed (well, it is a pattern dependent on temperature - but they don't know that..) and food arrival/let out into the WIR from the OMLET run that varies from 6-9am. Sometimes there are treats like "hot breakfast" and sometimes they get time out on grass for 15 mins now it's getting lighter, but no pattern.

 

They still call for attention when they hear us moving about outside and they hear the back or car doors open and close but not for very long if ignored. Interestingly, they obey the OH when he says "Shut up!" but not me who's the cockeral in our house??

[mathewjenkinson]

Hi all,

 

Wow thats a lot of info.

Thanks very much, im going to print this off and have a go tomorrow

 

Mathew

[Chortle Chook]

That's superb, logical advice.

Mods - can House MD 221B's article be made a sticky as I know that noise is one of the main reasons that former Omleteers have decided chickens are, after all, not for them?

[House MD 221B]

That's superb, logical advice.

Mods - can House MD 221B's article be made a sticky as I know that noise is one of the main reasons that former Omleteers have decided chickens are, after all, not for them?

 

Thank you CheekyChook, that's a lovely thought, it'd be wonderful if it could be used to help some people. If it pleases the Mods, then I'd happily right a more generalised, less esoteric version.