It started as a team building exercise during COVID-19 lockdowns but turned out to be so rewarding that two years later there are no plans to wind it up.
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Since early 2021 a team who train assistance dogs for people with autism and diabetes have taken up teaching chickens.
In early 2020Righteous Pups, based in Lockwood in central Victoria, was busy with specialised dog training, school programs and animal therapy sessions when the pandemic hit.
While the sudden slump in activity caused a parallel drop in morale, it also opened up new possibilities for connection.
Founder and managing director Joanne Baker had been interested for a while in the work of US-based animal training expert Terry Ryan.
With the pandemic pushing work and study online, she was able to organise weekly sessions with the renowned trainer over Zoom.
"Terry has come across the concept of training chickens to improve trainers' timing and body posture and connection with the animal," operations manager Jennifer Atkins said.
"And it was a great way of getting the team back around something fun, something new."
Dogs, especially Labradors, are happy to work for you and "a bit more forgiving", Atkins says.
"Birds, because they're prey animals, are very responsive to the smallest indication of change so if you move your body, they could pre-empt a threat and it affects your training.
"And with the birds if you're not right on the timing, you've missed the opportunity."
Sourcing chooks from local supplier Heggies Poultry, the team embarked on the new venture, with Atkins, training manager Kelly Stevens, and trainer-attendants Brendon Schreiber, Charlotte Downing and Alex Holden each adopting and naming their own hen.
Teaching them to negotiate an obstacle course was pretty quick, according to Stevens, once the birds were conditioned to the "click and treat" process of sound cues followed by dried mealworm rewards.
"They come to hear the click and go 'Okay!' and then you just shape their behaviour," she says.
Two years down the track, after six blocks of eight sessions, Stevenson, Wanda, Richmond and Big Bird have all mastered the basics.
"They are all different. Some are faster learners," Kelly Stevens says.
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Her own bird, Princess Anne, recently strutted her stuff in an ABC TV news story.
The avian star can work her way through the weave poles, walk the beam and even use her beak to kick a ball into a small soccer net.
Her next challenge will be a 10-obstacle course with only a single reward.
And playing some form of musical instrument may well be on the agenda.
"It's been such a wonderful journey," Atkins says. "And we know the birds are keen too.
"When the trainers go down to the pen, they'll leave the other birds in the pack and just run over to them."
The chooks have been added into the Righteous Pups "animals for therapy program", which provides companionship for people with autism or who are experiencing isolation.
"They're happy to come to you, happy to be picked up, happy to be patted and can do some fun stuff," Atkins says. "A chook that's got some skills, it just helps with that bonding process."
The trainers are also happy to be involved and have bonded with each other over the process.
"It's a fun thing, and we know how fun it is for the chooks, so we'll just keep doing it," Stevens says.
