Anybody have any ideas for chicken entertainment?

[islandgirl82]

Islandgirl82, do you have a cover on your run?

Just bird netting to keep them in when I need to but I work from home so they spend most of their time roaming the whole yard and their time confined to the run is limited. It's inexpensive and does the trick. I will be adding a covered section to their run before winter hits though.

 

[Sylvester017]

We have 19 chickens at present. I saw the posts about chicken swings, so we made a few. The only thing is, they have never tried to swing on them. How can I get my chickens to get on the swings, and then how do they make them actually swing? The swings are less than one foot off the ground.I tried to catch a hen and place her on a swing, but she was having none of it! I have raised all of our chickens since they were one day old, and they all run from me like I'm going to kill them if I try to pick one up. What's the secret to taming a chicken and not being afraid of me?

Some breeds before POL will have nothing to do with being picked up but seem to calm down once you have them in the "judge's hold" (scoop from the front of the chicken's breast under her with one hand and use the other hand to hold her wings down from flapping). I have one Silkie that tries to evade getting lifted up and another that gets excited to be picked up and looks forward to it because she knows I'll give her a treat or open the coop door for her (I'll keep the coop door closed for a couple hours to give a broody time to exercise/eat/drink before she wants back into her empty nest to brood).

Some breed characteristics like Leghorns are too agile and wary to be picked up. Some breeds like Ameraucanas might actually let you pet them or pick them up. Most chickens don't like anything towering over them as a natural instinct and you may have to be at their ground level with treats in hand to get them to approach you. The only way my Leghorns got near me was to sit down and not make sudden movements and let THEM decide when they wanted to hop on my chair, arm, or lap to get their treats.

As for your swing, give the chickens time to get used to it or make modifications to it - It might be too narrow or insecure or too short or long a perch to swing on. I had a plastic step stool to give my chickens a help up to their nestbox ledge and they avoided it like the plague. A couple months later I made a wooden step ramp up to the ledge and they started using it within a day. Who knows why chickens do what they do? All you can do is experiment till something works for you and them! Some people say their chickens LOVE pumpkins - I tried raw, cooked, cut-up, whole, or chopped pieces and to this day NONE of my chickens will eat pumpkin so I stopped wasting money on buying or growing pumpkins in the garden.

 

[Sylvester017]

I got mine the metal ball with the bell on it.They seem to be afraid of it.

We had a Cocktiel for a few years. I read that round wire cages agitated caged birds' vision so we moved him out of his round cage to a rectangular cage. Maybe the round wire chicken treat ball is like a round wire bird cage and scares the chickens? Maybe take the bell off from the bottom of the treat ball? Don't know - just throwing some ideas out there?

 

[slav defence]

This is a great thread! I absolutely LOVE finding new ways to keep my chickens entertained ... its a challenge and it makes for great entertainment. I call it chicken enrichment . I just built this little "catwalk" for my girls the other day. I have been putting things on/around/under it since then to keep them entertained and exercised. I also hang a suet feeder in their run and stuff it with kitchen scraps or weeds I also place plastic tubs throughout their run that are filled with tasty treats like meals worms, frozen friut (when its hot), or sand for dust bathing. Then when they are empty the chickens use them to climb on or sleep in lol. I also use one of those plastic treat balls in the run for them to kick around and keep occupied and one of their favorite things in when I put a tree branch in their run. Its a tasty treat and a shady napping spot! lol Of course if all else fails good ol fashion scratch works great too! Everyone has such great ideas so far ... I think I will try the mirror idea in my coop next.

Frozen fruits?I have heard that their combs got freezed in cold temperature. I wonder as if they are sensitive to frozen stuff?

 

[Celizwalsh]

Frozen fruits?I have heard that their combs got freezed in cold temperature. I wonder as if they are sensitive to frozen stuff?

Chickens can have issues with frostbite in the winter when they are exposed to very cold and humid temps for a prolonged period of time however eating frozen fruit during the hot summer months just keeps them cool. Think of it as how you would feel ... in the winter the cold weather could give you frostbite if you were not properly clothed and on a hot day cold/frozen fruit would be very refreshing and help you stay cool. Chickens are the same in that regard, in fact chickens are generally more susceptible to heat then they are cold temps so its even more important to keep them cool when its hot out.

 

[slav defence]

Yes sir,
You are right.I was reading somewhere that white Leghorns have better temperature tolerance as compare to Rhode Island reds and white/barred plymouth?I agree with you.I have also heard that most poultry farmer do decombing or dubbing of chickens in order to avoid their combs to get frozen badly?
Oh,I will start a new thread on this

 

[Sylvester017]

This is a great thread! I absolutely LOVE finding new ways to keep my chickens entertained ... its a challenge and it makes for great entertainment. I call it chicken enrichment

. I just built this little "catwalk" for my girls the other day. I have been putting things on/around/under it since then to keep them entertained and exercised.

I also hang a suet feeder in their run and stuff it with kitchen scraps or weeds

and one of their favorite things in when I put a tree branch in their run. Its a tasty treat and a shady napping spot! lol

Quote:
Originally Posted by slav defence


Frozen fruits?I have heard that their combs got freezed in cold temperature. I wonder as if they are sensitive to frozen stuff?

 

[mbiondo]

Put ice cubes in a tub of water. Better yet, freeze peas inside.

 

[Celizwalsh]

Yes sir,
You are right.I was reading somewhere that white Leghorns have better temperature tolerance as compare to Rhode Island reds and white/barred plymouth?I agree with you.I have also heard that most poultry farmer do decombing or dubbing of chickens in order to avoid their combs to get frozen badly?
Oh,I will start a new thread on this

Yea I think the general rule is the lighter the breed the more heat tolerant/less cold tolerant and the heavier the breed the less heat tolerant/more cold tolerant. It also seems to me that the heavier breeds tend to have smaller combs/waddles (example: cochin) and then the lighter ones have larger combs/waddles (example: leghorns). This was probably either bred into them by humans or the result of the natural selection process. The smaller combs/waddles to help avoid frostbite in more cold hearty breeds and the larger combs/waddle act as a cooling system in the lighter more heat tolerant breeds (similar to the way an african elephants large ears help to cool the blood in their body). Of coarse there are always exceptions to the rule

 

[mbiondo]

They don't eat the cubes, just peck at them