what can you teach a chicken?

[bvar22]

2. Ours will follow us around,

...especially IF they believe there might be a treat in the deal for them.

During Berry Season they will congregate outside the garden fence waiting for over-ripe berries that we toss over the fence, and some have developed their own personalized scams and routines to get attention.
One of our Australorps will sneak away from the flock when she sees me working in the garden,
and will sidle up to the fence near me,
and very softly call to me "Hoo, hoo, hoo?",
with the raised inflection of a question,
asking for worms, berries or bugs,
but quietly, just for her... so no one else will notice.
She believes we have a special deal, and we do.

We have never tried to teach them to jump through a hoop or anything like that,
but if your walk leads to good forage, they WILL learn that quickly,
and they WILL come home on their own just before sundown.

You will have to be careful with chickens in the garden.
They WILL scratch out young seedlings,
and dig BIG holes in the soft earth looking for worms
or a nice dirt bath.
They can tear apart a compost heap like Piranhas on a hot dog.
They will destroy Tomatoes on the vine,
and can even peck holes in Watermelons and Cantaloupes.
We only let ours in the garden in the Fall.