Chick toys?

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BawkinOnTheBench

BawkinOnTheBench

Songster
11 Years
Jun 13, 2008
257
6
131
UT
I've read different post where people mention 'toys' in the brooder so chicks aren't bored. I've got one very active EE - pecking wings and toes. Can't do the red light - I can't keep it cool enough. So what are some good 'toys' for baby chicks?
 
Wow I never thought about toys like those! Another thing that I've noticed is that my baby chickens love running through a coffee can with the other end holed out of it. I don't get it, but they seem to enjoy it.
 
We did some bird toys when they were just a few weeks old and then we built out of scraps of wood several different heights of roosts so they can just jump up and down and chase each other.
 
Neat thread!! I do the weeds already - my 4 week old chicks go bonkers for them. I just threw in a wiffle ball - we'll see if that gets any interest. I just moved them to their coop last Saturday - so everything is new and different for them. They have TONS of different size roosts, boards, bridges, etc. I also put down a shovel full of shavings - they love to roll around in it. My coop is straight on the pasture. I wonder if they'd like the parrot toys - the pieces of wood dangling from a rope? As an aside, I put in 2 bowls of cooked oatmeal this morn - they went CRAZY for it! And they love watermelon, too. My one little girl who was getting pecked is no longer getting pecked, so I think they are amusing themselves with all the other things now.
 
When I have them out on the ground in a tractor I will dig a shallow hole in the grass so they have a place to take dust baths. If they're in a solid-floored cage I'll take a large plastic plant saucer & fill it with dry dirt/sand for them.

I also will add sticks or branches for them to have perches, making sure they don't enable the chicks to escape.

I think it's good to give chicks & even chickens some things to add variety & interest to their days, but I don't think they really need "toys" that are for diversion & actual play. Certainly chicks seem to have "games" like Keep Away, where one will pick up a tasty bit & run around cheeping, but I don't think it's meant as play but as Survival of the Fittest.

It's when they're kept under close confinement, in artificial conditions, that they seem to need the most diversion. Otherwise, they start picking & pecking on each other. Out of their cages/brooders they can usually find enough to occupy their tiny minds.

Something interesting for adult chickens is to tie a head of lettuce, like Romaine, up over their heads high enough so they have to jump up & peck at it. It certainly provides some entertainment for the people watching them!
 
I don't think they could get a good grip on the lettuce if it was in the net bag, they'd be getting beakfulls of string instead. I think you could just tie a string tight around the root end, or through the leaves at the bottom. I see my chickens hopping up to peck at berries from the bushes overhead. I'd like to film it & put it to some sort of music. I guess you could suspend other types of food overhead for them, rolls or fruit or something.

But it still wouldn't be a toy that they are playing with solely for amusement. It would just be something that you're adding to their environment to add variety to their day.
 

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