To celebrate this blog hitting 2000 followers (thank you all!), here’s my little superstar Torchic the golden Sebright hen demonstrating that, just like parrots, chickens can be trained to willingly participate in their own routine physical examinations at the vet!

For a ton of reasons, pet chickens probably aren’t taken to be seen by an avian veterinarian nearly as often as they should be. One reason probably has to do with the fact that veterinary staff often end up completely restraining birds with hands and towels for physical exams. This is problematic because 1) it gives pet owners the perception that the vet staff aren’t familiar with how to handle birds, making them less likely to return for another appointment, and 2) even in chickens that are “used to” being picked up and don’t show any outward signs of fear or anxiety, manual restraint is inherently stressful to a prey animal, especially when it’s done by humans the bird isn’t familiar with. However, almost an entire exam can be done nearly hands-free using positive reinforcement and thoughtful reading of the bird’s body language. This minimizes stress for the patient, owner, and staff during the process and for future appointments.

Here, I positively reinforce the behaviours that I want Torchic to perform during four key components of the avian physical exam:

1) Measuring her weight. Weekly or even daily weight measurements are important in monitoring a bird’s health, and even more so the smaller they are. Rather than unceremoniously stuffing Torchic in a box on top of the scale and weighing her that way (though I have seen worse “techniques” used out there), I can make the process more rewarding and less stressful by training her to “station” onto the scale on cue. Stationing, or shifting, is a technique that trainers use to get an animal to go and stay at a certain spot, either by pointing or tapping at it, or simply using a verbal cue. Here, Torchic gets a mealworm if she steps onto the scale on cue, and waits there calmly until I’m able to get a reading.

2) Assessing her body condition. Numerical weights alone often don’t give vets enough information about an animal’s overall health, so they’re often considered in the context of a body condition score - this is the assessment of the distribution of muscle vs. fat tissue on major areas of the body. In birds, this is done by palpating, or thoroughly feeling the tissue over the keel bone, which is covered by the pectoralis (breast) muscles (responsible for generating power during flight). Without prior training, this part of the physical exam often makes birds feel a little ticklish and uncomfortable, or even terrified if they’re already afraid of being touched. I started off by reinforcing calm behaviour with very brief (< 1 second) and gentle pokes, and slowly worked up to being able to feel Torchic’s keel for longer and longer durations. On top of that, I use a verbal cue (”keel!”) beforehand to let Torchic know that I’m going to be all up in her personal space for a few seconds, so that she can mentally prepare herself a bit.

3) Examining the feet. Chickens in particular can be prone to developing diseases of the feet such as bumblefoot, so it’s a good idea to take a good look at their foot pads regularly to watch out for any lesions like open wounds, discoloration, etc. Just like with her keel, I use a verbal cue (”foot”) before I gently lift up one of her toes. If she lets me lift up her entire foot and take a close look at it without kicking or stomping or pulling away, she’s rewarded with another mealworm.

4) Heart auscultation. When vets listen to, or auscultate, an animal’s heart, they make sure to get a heart rate, and pay close attention to whether they hear any murmurs or abnormal rhythms. Again, same principles as with the keel palpation, except there was a bit more training required to get Torchic comfortable with the stethoscope being held against her for the full 10 seconds (which I didn’t even get to in this video before she gently nudged the scope away with her foot - not every training session is perfect!).

In between all of that, I make sure to reinforce desirable behaviours throughout the entire exam. This includes moments when Torchic’s just acting calm and engaged in the session, as well as stepping up onto my hand or back onto the counter on cue. The point is to make the whole thing as positive as possible to minimize stress.

It didn’t take months of training for Torchic to get to this point. All it took was 10-minute sessions every day or two for a couple of weeks, and careful observation of her body language to make sure she was always happy to participate, and never feeling scared, frustrated, etc. Nearly all of my birds have these and other basic health management behaviours down pat, and it’s worth the little bit of time and effort that goes into training because the vet hospital doesn’t have to be this stressful, terrifying place. A pet’s quality of life is vastly improved if they’re able to go in for routine vet visits without being unnecessarily manhandled.