How to Get a Chicken Into the Cage

Chickens, such as this black star and barred rock, can be trained to settle into a cage.

Chickens are intelligent and clever pets, and this natural ability to "read" people can make them a challenge to train. Chickens will usually respond to pleasure or food rewards and these techniques can be used to encourage cooperation. If you're showing or moving chickens, you need to place the birds inside a poultry cage. Chickens can be trained to do this and will soon learn that although the cage isn't very interesting, it isn't a terrible place to be, either. Training the chicken to relax inside the cage takes desensitization training and prepares the bird for its show career.

Things You'll Need

• Poultry cage
• Treats
• Hanging waterer (optional)

Instructions

1. Capture the bird for short duration cage trips to the vet or other short trips. Open the cage door. Catch the chicken and wait for it to calm down. Wrap a towel around the chicken if it's not handled regularly. Insert the chicken into the cage head first. Take off the towel and close the cage door. Use this method for transporting the bird when the bird will not be in the cage for an extended period such as a show.

2. Use training and desensitization techniques to place the chicken in a show cage. Set the cage inside the coop and place favorite treats inside. Allow the chickens several days to come and go inside the cage. Wait for the birds to enter and leave the cage readily (they have become desensitized). Place the show chicken inside the cage for a few minutes with the door closed. Feed the chicken treats and remove it from the cage. Slowly increase the time the bird spends in the cage. Do not leave the chicken alone during this stage of training.

3. Place a food bowl and waterer inside the cage (as it will be in the show). Place the chicken inside the cage as described in step two. Increase the time the bird sits in the cage. Add 1/2 hour of cage time each day. Decrease time if the bird becomes anxious; never rush the desensitization training. Feed treats and sit by the bird to calm it down during the process.

4. Consider training anxious or flock bound birds in groups. Use a large cage and train two birds in the cage together using the previous method. Take two cages and set them side by side as they would be in a show. Put a bird in each cage so that they can settle each other through companionship.

Tips & Warnings

• Some chicken breeds take to the cage easier than others. For anxious or flock bound birds, take the time to acclimatize and desensitize the bird. Never yell, roughly handle or leave the anxious bird in the cage unattended. Be aware that some birds will not adjust to the cage.

References

• "The Poultry Connection"; Teaching Poultry to "Show"; May 4, 2010
• "Up at Six"; Preparing Birds for Show; Ron Castaner; August 7, 2008
• "Exhibiting Poultry for Pleasure and Profit"; Loyl Stromberg; 1978