When we lived in Rapid City, one of my favorite places to bring the kids was
Reptile Gardens. The list of reasons is long and varied, though for me I looked most forward to the tic-tac-toe playing chickens!
For 25¢ the chicken comes out, pecks on a tic-tac-toe board, earning a treat each turn, and the human walks away with a cool postcard, win or lose. (caveat: I know this kind of Conditioned Response training not always the ideal situation for a chicken, few of those honestly exist, not even in my back yard. So I make my backyard and my tic-tac-toe training as loving and as friendly as I possibly can as a flawed human being who has no recollection of ever being a chicken, backyard or otherwise)
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| Rose Tyler, Rosie, Chick-Chick-Chicken |
So, when I ordered my first batch of chickens, I hoped for one of them to be tic-tac-toe trainable. I chose breeds specifically on the conditions of dual purpose (eggs & meat), friendliness, easy to physically handle. At the end of Summer, I'm left with only one chicken. In my world, Rose Tyler survived. (She's an
Australorp)
We've had Rose on the back porch all winter, so we've become quite well acquainted ♥ She was friendly before, always riding on my arm, shoulders & head. This winter though, I've been her constant company when I'm outside.
She's a pecker. Oh my goddess, she is one BAMP (Bad Ass Mother Pecker). She likes my silver hairs, my wiggly eyeballs, food in my teeth (any food I've got, really) and my teeny-tiny diamond earring (in my ear) from Mitch. I like a friendly and non-mauling chicken-friend. I've compromised by redirecting her fascination with all-things-reflective-or-tasty-about-me with my telephone screen. (It's not tactile responsive) I always add a reward to her phone pecks: neck scratches, cooing, petting.
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| Training Session 1 |
Today, I opened up my Tic-Tac-Toe app and grabbed some craisins (she especially loves fruit, they're a perfect reward/treat). She pecked, she got a craisin. She pecked, she got a craisin. Then, she just wanted the freakin craisins & she knew where they were. I tapped the screen with a craisin, she pecked, she got a craisin. Chickens are much easier to redirect than toddlers, FYI.
We played two games, each winning one.
Next time, I want a post card.
