Derek Kilbourn
Sounder News
A Gabriola chicken may be going into the Guinness Book of World Records.
The record is listed as, “most tricks performed by a chicken in one minute.”
Gabriolan Emily Carrington hosted the Guinness adjudicator on April 4. Carrington has trained six laying hens. She said preparing for the world record attempt, she ran three of them through the series of tricks to see how many they could do in a minute.
The one who got the most tricks that day was Lacey, who got 8 done correctly.
Carrington said, “she can do at least 10 but with so many people watching in my tiny garage I’m very pleased with 8!”
The tricks Lacey did correctly were:
1. Peck the target with 3 black beads on it not the target with one bead.
2. Peck at the orange fridge magnet “A” not the “S”
3. Peck at a black printed letter “A” not the “S”
4. Peck a yellow fridge magnet “O” not the “Z”
5. Peck a black fridge magnet “J” not the “L”
6. Peck a purple fridge magnet “5” not the “7”
7. Peck a yellow card out of 4 different colours
8. Knock over a paper cup to get a treat hidden underneath.
She and the other chickens are also trained to come when called; pull a string to ring a bell; throw a small foam basketball by picking it up by some tape that is stuck to it; jump up on a pedestal and jump through a hoop; pick the letter b not the h; and climb up and down a little ramp to ride in their school bus wagon.
Carrington had a batch of six similar chickens a few years ago, and she had taught them a few tricis, but with this current group she has gone further and taught the flock more complex tricks.
“I love animals and am fascinated by how they think and how much they are like us, and noticed that there was very little about chicken training or tricks on the internet.
“I did see on YouTube…some videos showing chickens doing a few simple tricks, and telling basic colors and shapes apart and learned they are easy to train as they love to learn and get fed treats as a reward..”
Carrington decided she would use a bit of her scientific background to assess how they learn and see if, “I could add to the knowledge in the area of chicken training and learning. As time allows I am posting videos about how I train them.
She has a YouTube channel entitled The Thinking Chicken.
“I am learning that chickens, although they don’t have facial expressions to show emotions like we do, have a wide series of emotions and express them through body language, body movements, and a variety of vocalizations.
“I am learning they have many things they enjoy, don’t enjoy, and they know where they are and what they are doing and what they want.
“Once they understand what you want, they are cooperative, and interactive.
“We think of chickens mainly as food – and I admit I do find them quite delicious – but I learned through training and watching them that they are determined and intelligent little creatures in their own way.
“I think the misunderstanding that chickens are stupid comes from watching them run away and flap around when we try to do anything with them. This is of course not stupidity, it’s fear. Once the fear goes away and they understand and trust you, suddenly they look quite smart!”
Carrington added a thank you to the people who came by on the day of the attempt to do the official timekeeping and to be the official witnesses to the record attempt, and also to people who recorded the video evidence.
Currently the record sits vacant. If the Guinness attempt is approved, Lacey will be the inaugural record holder. Carrington said, “I believe there is a minimum they expect of 5 tricks. If they do accept my record of 8 tricks I am sure it could easily be beaten.
“It’ll likely take 3 months for them to let me know if I get the record. It’s possible someone else who’s already submitted their evidence could get there first. If so, Lacey might get to give it another try! Or her faster but less accurate chicken friend Speedy!”
Emily Carrington asks Lacey the chicken to peck the target with three black beads during the Guinness Book of World Record attempt on April 4.
Photo by Jeanette Martin, Shutterjet photography
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