Chick boredom

aim0474

Chirping
Aug 23, 2016
136
12
71
Denver
I am concerned that my 1-3 week old chicks are getting bored. The 2 smaller ones still sleep quite a bit, but are moving to being awake for longer periods of time. Today they scratched down to the bottom of the brooder, whivh makes me think I am dealimg with boredom.

Are some of the idea used for full grown chickens still goimg to apply with young chicks? A small head of cabbage or watermelon to keep Them busy? So far they are getting chick feed only.

Thanks!
 
Give them a plug of soil from your yard (not treated with insecticides/herbicides). Give them a hanging string of small beads to peck at. Give them field trips (supervised) to your yard. Put some squiggles and dots on a piece of cardboard with a sharpie. Give them some crickets. Chicks are meant to scratch and dig. That's what chickens do. Don't give them much in the way of treats, unless it's high protein: bits of egg, finely chopped liver.
 
A big winner is a small tub of sand to "dirt" bathe in. Peat moss is a nice medium, too, and the chicks love burrowing into it.

Chicks, even very young ones, can benefit from trips outdoors to dig and explore. Don't worry about being away from a heat source. They can handle time away from it. Just watch for signs of chilling and select a day over 70F with no strong breezes.

And for occasional high excitement, nothing beats meal worms.
 
Thanks for the ideas!

They do have a dust bath area and the meal worms were a bust. Not sure why all 3 of them ignore the meal worms.....

I will set up an area for field trips
 
Just want to say thanks to everyone for the ideas the dirt or grass Clump was a huge success. I also got my compost condo set up and is fully enclosed with the chicken wire so they can take a little field trip up there now during the day when it's warm. I had them out there for a few minutes and they loved it.
 
Thanks for the ideas!

They do have a dust bath area and the meal worms were a bust. Not sure why all 3 of them ignore the meal worms.....

I will set up an area for field trips
Were they live meal worms?

Just want to say thanks to everyone for the ideas the dirt or grass Clump was a huge success. I also got my compost condo set up and is fully enclosed with the chicken wire so they can take a little field trip up there now during the day when it's warm. I had them out there for a few minutes and they loved it.
Beware chicken wire with littles. They can get their heads stuck in it. And it is not the least bit predator proof. Glad you are able to get them out.
 
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Not a great pic, cropped from a larger pic, but you can just see it in there....
....a cardboard box with some pine shavings and entrance cut in side can be good to block wind for small chicks on 'field trips'.
Same concept can be used, with top on box, for a huddle box for young chicks in brooder and to move out to coop once they are off heat for holding body heat at night.
 
So this is where they ended up. I built the compost bin and then enclosed it in chicken wire and it has a top. I hope to build a tunnel from the coop to the bin so they can go over and scrath to it and turn it. For now I just put them in it and close it up. It is not completely predator proof now but I am not far away.

They enjoy being in it and I enjoy watching them be in it. They chased thier first fly today.




 
They got live meal worms in there today too. They all fought over the same one despite the fact that there were several in there. Just like my kids! ;)
 

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