Chicken Training

[KittyKatLover]

I just wanted opinions on chicken training. I have 11 wonderful hens that know stay come, jump on my lap, and are leash trained. chickens are very gentle and caring if you get a hen without a dominate rooster. if you dominate a rooster and train him when he is older he can also be a great pet. I have often thought of pitching this idea to train chickens for special needs children. any thoughts on this?

[D4wn]

I just wanted opinions on chicken training. I have 11 wonderful hens that know stay come, jump on my lap, and are leash trained. chickens are very gentle and caring if you get a hen without a dominate rooster. if you dominate a rooster and train him when he is older he can also be a great pet. I have often thought of pitching this idea to train chickens for special needs children. any thoughts on this?

Hello KittyKatLover,

Me again.
I love hens. Here in the UK we have some awful 'Battery Farms' where chickens are kept in cramped, deplorable conditions. :kaioken:
About 15yrs ago I had a little bit of land so I went and 'rescued' some of the chickens from one of these places.
I took as many as I could get in my car, there were about 75 hens.
We put them in a stable as they had never seen the daylight and the vet said it would frighten them to death (literally).
We lost almost half of them because of the state they were in.
After 4 weeks we atarted opening the top door in the evening to get them used to 'dusk'. Then gradually we got them used to the daylight.
By the time they could go outside there were only 35-40 left alive.
It sounds stupid but those hens were the most grateful little creatures you could ever wish to meet.
Because we didn't know how old they were, over 2-3 years, the numbers dwindled.
In the end we had 7 left.
They all had names but 3 of them stick in my mind.
Hawk used to jump on your arm, that's where she got her name.
Ovenready, she had no feathers when we got them and they never grew back.
And Baby because she was the only young hen when we got them.
I haven't got the land now as I seperated from my husband but I enjoyed owning the hens.
I have helped friends 'rescue' hens from this farm since but if we ever get caught I don't think the Police would look on it as rescue.
My son is very good at getting through very small windows. :EL: :EL:
I am very 'law abiding' but sometimes you just have to act upon your beliefs. :angel5:

[KittyKatLover]

That is awesome! You are a very good person to rescue the chickens. I am sorry they dwindled but chickens are very fragile birds actually. I am in the process of figuring out what i need to do for setting up a non profit organization kennel and specially trained pets for special needs children. I hope we can keep connection i would love to house some of the chickens in need of a good home! It is horrible how people treat chickens and animals these days. a month ago a woman in houston had a tiger in her back yard starving to death and had only kept it to show her friends but didn't plan to feed it. Another woman a few months ago had over 75 cats in a small house living in their own filth because of this they lost all their furr and about 30 of them was dying. they had found over 20 dead cats in the womans freezer because she didn't know where to put them. I am glad there are people like you around.

[D4wn]

That is awesome! You are a very good person to rescue the chickens. I am sorry they dwindled but chickens are very fragile birds actually. I am in the process of figuring out what i need to do for setting up a non profit organization kennel and specially trained pets for special needs children. I hope we can keep connection i would love to house some of the chickens in need of a good home! It is horrible how people treat chickens and animals these days. a month ago a woman in houston had a tiger in her back yard starving to death and had only kept it to show her friends but didn't plan to feed it. Another woman a few months ago had over 75 cats in a small house living in their own filth because of this they lost all their furr and about 30 of them was dying. they had found over 20 dead cats in the womans freezer because she didn't know where to put them. I am glad there are people like you around.

KittyKatLover,

Here I go again. My eldest daughter runs a 'Parents Friendship Group'.
She has 4 kids of her own and also runs the Group.
Some of the parents of 'able bodied' children weren't happy when Mandy told them that she would only run the group if it was ' Racially & Socially' integrated.
Apparently some of them didn't want their kids being around Disabled/ Handicapped kids. The kids loved the idea it was their parents.
Everything is set up now and she has just recieved grants of over £10,000 for play & art equipment for the kids.
It sounds an awful lot of money but the tables & seats she needs for the disabled kids are £400 a set. :agree: :agree:
I think it is fantastic when people can take the time to help out with these things.
My partner has a little boy, from a previos relationship, he's 6yrs old but he is 'special needs' and he adores coming with us to the group. We all go to the 'petting farm' and the kids, especially the 'special' kids love to just be able to touch and cuddle the animals. It amazing how they 'Shine' when they are around animals. :rainbow:
He gets along with my Grandkids as if they were siblings, they love each other. My Grandkids, even the two babies help Micheal to learn new things. If anyone upsets him they have four little girls to contend with. :weyes: :weyes:

[KittyKatLover]

It is a proven study that animals help with developmental growth of special needs children. They also reduce stress and releife emotional pains that we might not be aware of. I have mentioned once that my rat like to cuddle when i am sick or when she is sick. when i am sick or moody my fiancee gets my rat to make me feel better and it works all the time. When i was little and i got in a fight with my parents would would cry alot in my room and my miniture dachshound would come in there and snuggle until i felt better. Animals have amazing perception on how to make a person feel better.
Helping Hooves (http://helpinghooves.org/ourhorses.html) This is a group i am currently trying to get together with for a kennel (http://petshelpingpeople.org/Core/core.html)

[Woolykeeper]

awwwww poor hens! It IS very awful how they keep animals these days. I'm not about to go vegetarian, but it's not right how they keep farm animals. In my mind, they should have large, outdoor enclosers with shelters for them, and let them free-range, with supplemented feed and water. For cows and pigs, just let them have a large pasture. I never knew you could train chickens! How neat :) It makes me want one, lol!

[boredboredbored]

i have some kick butt chickens and i always wanted to take them for small walks on a leash but my mom said it would be dangerous and said that they would get there wings hurt because of the thing that wraps around them. where can i get a leash for my chickens? thanks for the help!

btw, down in indiana where i live, insted of free-range, we call them loose =P