Anybody have any ideas for chicken entertainment?

[Sylvester017]

Mine were like that with grapes...until I squished the grapes. Now they love them and I no longer have to squish them. I think they just didn't get that they could get to the delicious innards if they pinched a little harder.

My DH cut the grapes in half and we had to try several colors of grapes before they would eat them. If there are seeds in the grapes, they'll ignore the fruit. The smaller the grape size the easier for them to break them apart to eat - but no seeds please LOL. Grapes drives them all into a frenzy. Our Ameraucana is the only one that likes the sweet cutup dates. She's like Mikey - she'll eat anything and sometimes gets the others to try new foods.

 

[Sylvester017]

My fixed chicken coop. Today my chickens were running free and they were taking dust bathes.

It is such a happy time for chickens when free-ranging. If you free-range your chickens in an open backyard set up some shelters for them to snooze/hide under from aerial predators. We're in the city and still get an occasional Cooper's Hawk (chicken hawk) fly overhead or sit on the fence or on patio furniture to watch our hens. Our hens immediately hide in a couple large doghouses, or under our 3 low-ground shelters, or under the wheelbarrow, or under the popup canopy or under the rose bushes. The hawk can see the hens but won't go after them hiding. For shelters we recycled old plywood and closet shelving and propped them on top of cinder blocks - they kind of look like backless benches in the yard but the chickens will use them to sleep under and to hide under. I once saw 3 hens dive simultaneously into a doghouse when the hawk flew into the yard. Rose bushes are hardy plants and the thorns provide the hens with security from predators. We are constantly adding more foliage in the yard around the doghouses and shelters to make the hens secure. Put cinderblocks or paver stones around the base of your coop to keep out digging critters like dogs or raccoons who kill chickens more for sport than for food. Can't tell if you have poultry wire or hardwire on your coop but poultry wire is easily ripped apart from itself if you get an attack. We never knew we had raccoons in the city until we saw a goat-sized one crawl out of our street storm drain. 1/2 inch hardwire is the most expensive part of any coop build but it's worth the expense. Stray dogs broke our yard gate and attacked our little coop. The poultry wire was mangled beyond repair - at least the paver stones kept them from digging under the coop. A good neighbor chased the dogs off before they completely tore open the cheap 1-inch poultry wire. Better hardwire is worth the expense. Our coop is small and open like yours so we have to keep a tarp over it during rain or during heatwaves or during high winds. Your doghouse in the coop is an excellent sleeping/nestbox. Chickens like perches too. We have one set up under the popup canopy. We just used a 2x4 plank through cinderblock holes. It's not high but the chickens like to perch on it under the shade of the canopy.

How's the weather in Puerto Rico. Bet it's a pretty place!

 

[Americano Blue]

build a sand box and mix dried mealworms and treats in the sand so they have to scratch around for them

 

[yoyoyouya]

LOL my Uncle's chickens and my chickens ( which we keep together cause my Uncle gave me my first chicks ) will eat absolutely anything

 

[Americano Blue]

cat toy balls are fun. just make sure the holes are small so they can't get the bell inside

 

[Pretty Chickens]

Hi, yes it is very pretty and very hoy. My chicken run free when I am out side. They are still small to leave them by them self. I have a closed backyard so they are pretty safe but I also have 3 dogs that watch them all the time. They like to go under the plants for shade and nap. After a while I put them back in the coop.

 

[Pretty Chickens]

They love the raisins, bananas and mangos. I give them the hole banana and they go craze over it.

 

[Pretty Chickens]

Thank you, I will be very careful with the cilantro. I know that onions are bad for them and they give there eggs a bad taste.

 

[robphenix]

First of all, thanks for the many great ideas. Here are some that our girls seem to appreciate:

I skewer a cabbage with a shishkabob skewer from a barbecue set, then suspend it in the chicken run. They have a great time pecking over the next few days.

I also bought an automatic fish feeder designed for koi ponds. I fill it with scratch and set the timer so that it drops a small amount at intervals during the day. When they hear the motor start as the feeder kicks on, they come running like it's Christmas morning for chickens.

When they were chicks, I used to use a laser pointer with them too, and they would chase the dot just like little kittens. I haven't tried it in a long time -- but now that I've remembered it, I'm going to try it again.

 

[Sylvester017]

Hi, yes it is very pretty and very hoy. My chicken run free when I am out side. They are still small to leave them by them self. I have a closed backyard so they are pretty safe but I also have 3 dogs that watch them all the time. They like to go under the plants for shade and nap. After a while I put them back in the coop.

How cute, youngsters. Chickens that free-range hardly ever use a small coop except to lay eggs or sleep for the night. Ours snooze during the day under the rose bushes and the bench shelters. In the cooler winter months they will huddle in the big doghouses we got from the thrift/Goodwill stores. We bought their Stainless Steel dog dishes for water from the thrift stores too. During summer we leave a water mister on during the hot days under the shade of the canopy and they sit under the water spray. What kind of dogs or size of dogs do you have? Some dogs can be trusted and some can't - just the nature of animals. It's good that you watch your free-range young chickens. Sounds like they already like to hide/snooze under plants/shelters. Free-range is the best entertainment for chickens. Today my DH turned over some wet soil and immediately the chickens flocked to the overturned dirt to scratch and peck in it! They were scattering dirt and grass everywhere but he thought it was too cute to stop their fun.