Chicken Toys: Why They're Important & How To Provide Them!

These ideas are ingenious! I repurposed a lot of stuff (dog kennel and similar) for shelter during free ranging times. They love it! Thank you for additional ways to keep the ladies (and roo) occupied.

Good Article! I would like to see more pictures of chicken toys

Hanging like a tetherball on a bungee cord is great fun to watch. Every poke is a PUSH, right into someone else's face. What a hoot! One pullback I have noticed has left me with the dilemma. Cabbage they enjoy and consume virus Being bite harder then BEFORE the cabbage "ball."This is just an observation. Before the cabbage, they would sit up on my knees and let ME "check'em out." Pleasent and soft talk, mine, and theirs. It's not part of their mindset now, and they think anything hanging like fingers, needs to be pecked. I am working on re-establishing acceptable decorum. We are wildlife rehabbers 20 yrs.+ the whys and how comes of behavior have become a crucial part of rehab. What I have observed is now the chicken pecks HARDER then before the cabbage.
Makes sense, the cabbage ball (and the cabbage itself) is hard to grab a pice, cause it MOVES. So (I think they think) got to catch it harder to get a bite. My hands are of old skin, and a hard peck hurts me; I can only imagine granddaughter skin. These birds are not as dumb as the general population clams. But they can learn my hand is not cabbage, with a decent (hard enough to get their attention!!) and well-aimed flick to the beak. Timing is crucial! It needs to be instant. If I am pecked harder than required, they are FLICKED, just as shocking hard, back. The girls have learned but the Roos!!! They think their peck has to kill. Isn't that just like a boy? I love all these ideas. When we win the loto, I'm going to have the coolest coop and call it D----- R---, you'll see.

Somethings I had not heard before. Thank you for the great ideas! I have a baby xylophone in mine triggered by the slightest touch.

good reminder thanks for the article.

Great article and although I do some of these “games” with my hens, I’m excited to try some new ones. My compost bin recently broke and my girls have been having a blast. Of course it made shoveling up the compost a lot harder. My indoor cat has lots of toys and never thought to give my chickens any. Thanks for the suggestions.

now I know what to do with two old tires I have!

All good ideas! Only thing is that I've read/heard back and forth opinions about allowing them to play in compost piles. Some say yes, some say no. With reasons for both. But overall, very good ideas for things to keep chickens busy and happy!

Some lovely ideas here - I am a complete novice getting our set up ready before our girls arrive next month. I will definitely be using some of these ideas.

I’m not sure I’m up for a DIY disco ball but I’m definitely doing some of these others.

Great info for those 'trying' and i repeat 'trying' to stay on budget!

I had no idea that they needed toys! I'm going to have so much fun with this

This article helps promote mutual entertainment for both us and the chickens. My hens can concentrate more on their toys and less on their pecking order. Thanks!

well written, helpful to have examples for chicken activities and ‘boredom busters’ for chickens that can not free range due to weather, predation, etc.

Thank you for putting together a lot of ideas for enrichment of the flock. I think there's a lot of ideas that I can use in redesigning our coop and run right now. I definitely will be doing the tire dust bath, swing and outdoor perches/roosts.
As another idea, I am also going to try to have beds or pots of herbs in the warmer months covered with hardware cloth about two inches above the dirt so that the herbs can grow through for the chickens to forage on but the chickens will not be able to completely eat the plant or dig up it's roots so it can keep growing back.
I would proceed with caution on some things like old pumpkins and CDs. Salmonella is something that should be a real concern, and a jack-o-lantern left out for days or even weeks could be harboring such an illness. As for CDs, I've broken a CD before by accident, and it can leave some sharp edges. A good wind can smash a hanging CD into a branch, wall, or fence and leave sharp edges laying in the run.

Very good and easy ideas

I love how informative the article is! Lots of good ideas for chicken stimulation. I didn't even know they needed stimulation like that, thanks for the heads up!

Never thought about putting my compost pile in the coop run area; I am willing to try it to give the vegetation a chance to grow in there again.