Training hens

[geoff]

Since I have found out that Ernie is in fact a hen would I be right in thinking that hens are harder to hand tame? I have had her about 9 months and she wont even sit on my finger. Are there any measures I can take to get her more used to me?

[sdavies]

My hens are more nutty tame than the boys they all love millet! Sex regardless find them no different!

[BudgiesBuddy]

It depends on individual personalities of the budgies and not their sex

[geoff]

do you thing that she is too old to be tamed any further? She makes an awful amount of distressing noise when she is handled and tries to bite her way out. Do you think she maybe a little anti social?

[sdavies]

If I was man handled- I'd scream, bite & wiggle too! Do postive reward based training, never too old

[geoff]

I don't man handle my birds

[sweetpea]

I agree with others - that it is down to the individual. Sometimes you have to do a bit of detective work to see what appeals to them. A small example is that my Phineas is happy to step on my open palm yet if I offer a finger he completely ignores me.

[geoff]

That is the sort of thing I am dealing with. She will go to a particular perch and she lets me scoop her up into my hand. She is happy to stay like that while my hand is in the cage, when I move out the cage that is when she gets stressed. The only time I can handle her is while she is inside the cage.

[sdavies]

don't scoop her up, let her come to you. Plenty of fab millet training videos on youtube

[Hezz]

Feb 21, 2013 22:26:36 GMT geoff said:

I don't man handle my birds

Chill, Geoff. You are a man, are you not? And you do try to handle her? From a budgie's point of view, I would call that man-handling. Spickey never meant to infer anything else. Don't take offence, please.

[stace]

Geoff, Sweetpea is onto something. Sometimes the smallest change in how you do things reaps a result. Also, try working on rewards for step-ups outside the cage. If she'll sit on your shoulder, feed her a treat in such a way that she has to step on your finger.

Also, their seeming dislike of something can often change. My bird used to hate having his feathers touched. That lasted a whole year. I kinda persisted every now and then without much joy. Then one day I gave it another try, and he was kinda surprised by how much he liked it. Now he's forever coming over to me, poofing up his feathers and demanding a scritch.

If I don't do it on demand or don't do it quick enough, he opens one eye, edges forward and then pushes his beak against my finger with his head thrust forward and feathers poofed out until I do. It's pathetic.