Chicken Camp

Yes, we said Chicken Camp!  Our ACBS 481/581 Principles of Applied Companion Animal Behavior students, taught by Dr. Crista Coppola, participated in a unique activity before heading out for winter break.  They attended Chicken Camp.  The camp was coordinated as part of Christy Sims graduate component in the course.  Christy is seeking her Master’s degree in agricultural education.  For the camp, Christy brought 15 of her 4-H chickens for her fellow classmates to practice learning theory principles with, specifically classical conditioning and operant conditioning.  Throughout the session, students worked in small groups to teach their chicken the meaning of a “clicker” and then used luring and shaping with positive reinforcement to teach their chicken how to traverse a variety of obstacles.  The day ended with a friendly competition of “Chicken Agility”.  Students had a great day of fun while learning and was a great way to end our semester.