My chickens seem bored what can I do to help them??

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chicken vs girl

chicken vs girl

Hatching
Sep 2, 2015
2
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7
Wales
I got some chickens (6). Two of them sadly died I got 2 new ones but there now at the bottom of the pecking order so every time I get some treats to keep them preoccupied they get bullied and chased around the coop I need something else but what???
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Here are the names of my chickens:
Star
Honey
Emily
Henrietta
Livvy
Mulan
 
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glad you have joined us.

So sorry about your losses.

Assuming they are getting along well except when treats are offered and they are not injuring the new ones and not preventing them from accessing feed and water, then IMO that is normal flock dynamics. Treats will bring out the pecking order.

Even entertainment with flock blocks, seed ball toys, hanging baskets of greens doesn't over come the excitement and greed for coveted treats.

If this is what you witness, offer treats that can be scattered around instead of placing in one bowl or one location, or offering them hand held so they all can participate?
 
Hi, welcome to BYC!

You can put a pile of leaves or hay in their run, that's always good for scratching around in. Some people get their chickens live crickets and meal worms from the pet store (or raise them). I'll toss a handful of black oil sunflower seed out for them to scratch and peck for. Give them some things they can climb on or hide under or sit on that are different levels.

I bet if you put something in the Search box on how to prevent boredom, you'd find a lot of ideas.

Nice to have you join us, hope you're having fun with your flock!
 
You can give them a sandbox for dust bathing. Small colored balls can be pushed or chased. Parrot toys can give their brains a work out as can a wooden crate with opening at each end, overturned so they have a tunnel to explore. Some real tree branches in the run so they have a choice of roosting areas. Some people even get them those dog Kong toys, and stuff food in them to keep them occupied.
 
A big coffee can with the bottom still on and a plastic top on it... instant drum and they play both ends and roll it around. Jump up on it..try to stay on top when it's on the side...etc.. They will turn it upright and on it's side by themselves. They seem to like the faint reflection they can see in the shiny end too..
They are fascinated by a plain plastic 39oz coffee can top too. Mine play it and prefer a blue one at that. Black one seems to draw far less attention.
Mine are scared by a mirror, so I had to take that off the fence.
Sand or dirt box or just a dry-ish place they can dust bathe in. You will find them side by side and wanting to pile up in one spot and throw dirt all over each other. Mine will lay on their sides too. I put both a little DE and a little Seven dust in the major dust bath places out in the pen every few weeks too when it's dry outside.
Anything hanging slightly higher then their heads they can stretch up to and peck will work too. A ball on a small but strong fishing line that won't break easily will get pecked hard...use a good ball that won't shred easily...a chicken isn't the smartest sometimes and will swallow crap you wouldn't think they ever would. There was a couple of already shot old .22 cal empty cases I found in the edge of an old flowerbed I was saving the Iris "bulbs/tubers" from...2 brilliant chickens "assisting" me with the flowerbed grabbed them before I could blink and ran off and swallowed them. Apparently they wanted to shoot their mouth off for the day.. ?? (apparently the casings went thru ok...chickens are fine too)
Small clean shiny cans like an empty tuna can will entertain some of them for 15 minutes "playing" it like a little drum or rolling it..but they like the big coffee cans more.
A few small boards will be moved aside and scratched around and looked and looked and looked under to no end.
Anything with small dots on it will be pecked at for a half hour by one or two....then the next ones passing will try it too. I had a white painted board with some red paint spatters on it laying out in the pen for a week before I finally got it out (a cutout for more screened ventilation on the coop) they had pecked most of the red spatters off.
 
Sounds like you have some "mean girls" in that flock (kidding).
Chickens tend to be sort of territorial about their yard and coop. I have never added chickens to a flock that was already established. I did however, try adding a couple of goslings to the chicken yard and it was a complete disaster. I had to rescue the one that was left and this was only 2 hours time.
it works a lot better for the chickens to all be introduced to the yard and coop at the same time and its better if they were all raised in the brooder together. That way no one has squatters rights already established.
I live in a really dry sandy area and my chickens seem to enjoy it when I just spray some water over their yard area and wet the ground pretty good.. It tends to make them more interested in scratching the ground and foraging than picking at each other. I also throw several handfuls of scratch out there which keeps them interested and occupied a couple times a day.
You might try a hard squirt of water (providing the weather isn't to cold) on the hen that is doing the chasing to discourage the negative behavior.
I sincerely hope your chickens can adapt and all get along. This can be such a worry and especially when you can't be out there refereeing all the time.
Good luck
 

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