[HeliFella]

Hi everyone, 

Bar my intro post (click link) this is my first post.

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=55758.msg659091#msg659091


To what extent can chooks be trained?

We've not got any hens just yet (doing my info gathering first).

On our honeymoon in france our English host kept half a dozen or so hens - brown ones, with bald necks!!  I don't know if they were named individually but collectively known as the "Girlies" and would come to a whistle & call "Girly girly girlies!!"

Have you been able to call them individually - say if 'Henrietta' was wondering off, you could call her back?  Or would it be a case of calling them all for a group hug?

Also which breed would you suggest for egg laying for our first lil family?  (wanting 3 or 4 hens)

[Casey76]

Hi

Chooks are trainable to an extent... use food

My girls have individual names, but if I want to gather them together I just shout "come on girls" while carrying the corn.  Actually if I make an appearance in the garden they usually all come running as they see me as the "bringer of food"

Hens will automatically put themselves to bed in the hen house at dusk, providing you keep them shut in for about 24 hours when you first get them.  At this point they associate the house with sleeping.  If it doesn't work, a herding approach for a few day usually does the trick.  If mine are hanging around (and I have a couple of dirty stop-outs) I usually call "bedtime girls" and then they usually go into the coop - i say usually, sometimes they like to remember that they are the boss and don't *hve* to do everything I say lol!

Now, about breeds... ask 10 people which breed is best and you will get 15 different answers lol!

You could get bog standard (sorry girls) warrens/ISAs - these are the "normal" brown barnyard hens.  They lay like mad for about 18 months then they start to run out of ova.  This is what they have been bred for.  I've found that ISAs are pretty hardy, but independent and a bit stand offish - so a bit difficult if you want to cuddle your chooks.

There are many different hybrids out there which are laying machines.  Some of them look the same, because basically they are the same cross, but each "production farm" tends to almost patent the name.

I have a bunch of Cou Nu roux (the red naked necks you saw in France) - just 4 weeks old at the moment.  They are incredibly inquisitive, and are getting more friendly by the day - although I had bought them as table birds, I'm going to keep one for eggs as they are a typical French dual purpose breed... but I don't think they are too widly available in the UK.

Good luck with your new venture... I'll leave the breeds to more experienced UK people, as I can only really chat about the French ones lol!

[CattinJ]

Hello,
On the training question, they can be "trained " to a certain extent.... Like Casey says if they see you as a bringer of food - you've got them in the palm of your hand really.  One member on here recommended me not to take this approach as I'd be "mugged" the minute I stepped out of the house - which is true!!  However, it means if I need to gather them together in a hurry they always run to me and it's pretty easy to herd them back to their run.  Essentially they can be easily bribed with food!  However they still have a rebellious moment every now and again and I've had a few occasions where I'm chasing them around the garden in short skirt and evening wear trying to get them to bed before I go out!  FYI; Hens CANNOT be house trained as far as I know - they are pretty much incontinent, so expect a lot of poo!

[joyfull]

you can buy hen nappies though - in America of course 

[Hayley'sHens]

I had to google that Joy.... Found this  http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=24912.0

[joyfull]

See, told you 

[ehs284]

Your biggest problem will not be training them - it will be the realisation that they have trained you!