“I wonder if they can get a chicken to lay down and relax while they stick it with needles?”
Actually, chickens are very easy to hypnotize.
Hold the hen in your arms until she settles down. Stroke her back and her head and speak soothingly to her.
Take her firmly in your hands and lay her down on her side on a solid surface, such as a cement driveway or wooden barn floor.
Using your index finger, drawn an imaginary line from her beak out into infinity. (Of course, you have to have her really relaxed and make sure she is watching your finger.)
Let her go, and she’ll lay like that for a solid 30 minutes or so until she snaps out of it. It really can be done!
An Ag Prof that I know does this at the beginning of a lecture, and she lays at his feet, staring off into space until he’s done speaking.
I’ve done it many times. It’s a great “parlor trick” and amuses the heck out of kids! :)
If you can find a few of those “fainting goats” to add to the act, you can open up your own circus, LOL!
You jogged my memory. I have heard of hypnotizing chickens. I’ve never seen it done though. My farm animal experiences are limited to cows, pigs, goats and rabbits.