Has anyone ever taught their chickens to fetch?

[blue-azurite]

Basically my friend bet me $100 dollars that I couldn't teach my hen how to play fetch. I would really like $100. So far I've made some good progress. I crocheted a ball specifically for this and its soft enough that she can grip it in her beak but not too small that she can eat it. She's learned to associate the word "ball" with it and speed walks over to peck at it whenever I toss it. She's figured out by now that it's not food and glances back over at me to make sure I'm watching before pecking at it, so I know she's connected the dots. But now I'm kind of stuck. How do I get her to bring it back? I hold her treat for longer each time to try and get her to hold it in her beak for longer, but if she doesn't receive a treat fairly quickly after pecking it, she loses interest. Has anyone else taught their birds how to fetch?

 

[thecatumbrella]

Are you using a clicker? There's a psychology to it, so do a little googling if you're not familiar. I've seen people try and use it as a remote control on their dog.

I'll try and give you a cliff notes version:
Day 1: "Load the clicker" - You're going to click and give a treat. Over and over. That's it. You want her to associate the clicker sound with a treat.
Day 2: Give your ball command. The moment she pecks at the ball, click and reward.
Day 3: Start waiting for her to JUST SLIGHTLY incline the ball back in your direction. The progress needs to be minimal. Click and reward. This stage will take the longest.
Day ???: Keep adjusting the distance she needs to move the ball before clicking and rewarding.

 

[GirlsHuntToo]

This is great!
Hopefully you can get her to fetch! lol

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Following. I want to know if you win the bet, lol.

How old is the hen? I've noticed that tricks taught at a younger age (3-5 months) are longer lasting and can almost become a natural response for your chicken. I have also noticed that chickens can do well with visual commands. Out of the three tricks listed below, the last two are both visual and vocal and the chickens respond more to the visual than the vocal. (The first trick has to be vocal, obviously.) On the second trick, the latest hen I taught it I taught her as a pullet and she does that trick just as naturally as she goes in the nesting box to lay her eggs. She'll even do it in a new and stressful environment, which is important when you are showing strangers (and in new places).

Impressive tricks taught my chickens:

Name (come to their own name)
Guess what hand it is (hold a treat in one fist and they have to scratch/peck each fist until they pick the right one)
Hawk (fly and land on my arm like a hawk)