Terry Ryan’s Chicken Camp

April 17 – 21, 2023

We’ll practice mechanical skills with special attention to timing and eye-hand coordination.  Lessons include observing and recording behavior, systematic desensitization, capturing a behavior, shaping a behavior, and the use of targets.  Students will work on a discrimination task and train their hen to negotiate obstacles. Effective coaching techniques to aid your training partner will be addressed. No experience is required. CEU credits are available.

Time: Monday – Thursday, 9 am – 4 pm; Friday 9 am – 2 pm
Workshop Check-in: Monday, April 17, 2023, 8:30 – 9 am
Lodging Check-in: 4 pm, Sunday, April 16, 2023

Location: Seabeck Conference Center (13395 Lagoon Dr NW, Seabeck, WA 98380)

Tuition: Workshop tuition includes snacks, lunch, and any workshop materials. Lodging includes your room, breakfast, and dinner for those staying at the conference center. The prices listed below are per person. A 50% deposit is required to reserve your spot.

Early Bird Pricing (before January 1, 2023)

  • Workshop only: $765.00
  • Workshop & Single Occupancy lodging/meals: $1,510.00
  • Workshop & Double Occupancy lodging/meals: $1,260.00 (pp)

Regular Pricing (after January 1, 2023)

  • Workshop only: $825.00
  • Workshop & Single Occupancy lodging/meals: $1,590.00
  • Workshop & Double Occupancy lodging/meals: $1,320.00 (pp)

Registration:

  1. Please email us to register for Chicken Camp. Space is limited, and registration and a minimum 50% deposit are required.
  2. Once we receive your registration form, you’ll receive an invoice to be paid via credit or debit card. If you prefer to pay by check, please mail it to Kitsap Animal Rescue & Education or KARE at PO BOX 994, Silverdale, WA 98383. Your spot in the workshop is held with the receipt of payment. Please read the cancellation policy below.
  3. This workshop is for humans only. For the comfort of the birds, no dogs can be permitted in the building during Chicken Camp.
  4. We are partnering with Seabeck Conference Center for lodging, however, if you are looking for other lodging ideas in Kitsap County or would like more information on the area, visit: http://www.visitkitsap.com/

Cancellation Policy:

If you choose to cancel your registration, please notify us in writing (email or letter). 

  • Cancellations received no later than 90 days before the first day of the camp will receive a full 100% refund of the paid registration fee minus a $50 processing fee.
  • Cancellations received no later than 60 days before the first day of the workshop will receive a refund of 50% of the paid registration fee.
  • NO refunds will be issued for cancellations received less than 60 days before the first day of the workshop. This policy is without exception unless the camp is canceled by KARE.

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ABOUT THE CAMP

If you have not attended one of Terry Ryan’s Chicken Camps before, a typical day starts at 9 AM and ends at 4 PM. A 10-minute break will take place approximately every hour. Students will work in pairs, taking turns training their own chickens and coaching their partner.

The following topics will be covered:

  • Mechanical Skills – drills for eye-hand coordination, timing, and observation skills
  • Ethology – consideration of the ethology, physical attributes, and stress issue of the animals
  • Umwelt – how individuals acquire, process and store information differently
  • Selection, identification, and effective marking (use of bridge) of training criteria
  • Reinforcement – rate/schedule/value/delivery/quantity, 80% rule, Premack principle
  • Capturing and Shaping behaviors – general and specifically to target training
  • Criteria Selection and Identification – what do you really want? 
  • Goal Setting
  • Task Analysis, instructional formatting, Training Plans
  • How to Be a Good Coach including TAG teaching exercises
  • Data Collection, keeping records, making a TAGulator
  • Lateral thinking techniques

Meals are provided on-site at Seabeck Conference Center. Seabeck Conference Center offers ONLY the following special diet requests: Vegetarian, Vegan, Non-Celiac Gluten Free, Dairy Free or a combination of these. Seabeck Conference Center is also a nut-free facility but does not guarantee that processed foods have been produced in a nut-free environment. Guests with a variety of food issues are encouraged to bring supplemental food that may be stored in the dining room refrigerator and warmed in the microwave. Morning and afternoon snacks will be provided. Water, soft drinks, tea, and coffee are available all day.

If you are flying into Seattle-Tacoma International airport, you are free to rent a car or take the Bremerton-Kitsap Airporter from the airport to the Silverdale Beach Hotel and we’ll be happy to pick you up and bring you to the Seabeck Conference Center. Just let us know your travel plans!