Hi, I have 6 week old chicks out in the run now, and thought about putting up some roosts or ladders or something for them to do since they can't free range yet. Does anyone have any fun things in their run?
I don't know how much fun they are...lol...but I do have several different types of roosts out in my run...a large ladder type roost, a big thick branch roost, and just a plain old 2x4 roost. Plus I have an old stump in there for them to jump up on. I've just recently added a few shrubs that I will protect until they get big enough for the girls not to kill...
I have some that are about four weeks old and I have two different sized roosts at two different heights. They love flying from one to the other and walking back and forth across them. They also like to play on top of their water bottle. I have given them some treats(I gave them a strawberry cut up into about forty little peices and they fought over it and chased each other around and it took them about one hour to eat one little strawberry) and little twigs that they like to play with and carry around their cage. I have 11 baby Sumatras and they are so funny to watch playing with their toys. I also tied a shoe string to the top of my brooder so that the tip is about an inch off the floor and they play with it a lot too. For my older two hens who have to live indoors until we can get rid of a hawk I used a bunch of old boards and other random things that were laying around and turned their chicken house into a playhouse. They have a place to hide, two places to lay eggs, four different levels of roosts, and lots of dirt to dig in. I also spread out some of their food when I feed them so they can scratch around to find it. They don't really need everything I have given them but it gives them something to do and they aren't as skitish about little things anymore. It is up to you really, I bet they would enjoy some fun stuff though.
We have part of my Son's old skateboard ramp in our chicken run. It is basically a box frame made of 2x4's with plywood over the top. They love dust bathing, or just napping under it, of roosting on top of it, to see over the flowers planted around the run perimeter. Other than that, anything food oriented makes my Girls happy. Scratch gains tossed around keep them busy and they especially appreciate watermelon or grapes on a hot day!
We have a carved branch ladder, a branch roost across part of the run, an apple crate, and we just tore apart the last of the bale of alfalfa for them to scratch in. Occasionally I put a flock block in the run for them to peck at for variety, and I often toss them treats, so they will have to scratch and look for them. Baby spinach leaves, raisins and black oil sunflower seeds are a few of the treats we give. When we mow the lawn, we also put the first few bags of cut grass in the run for them to scratch through. They love it!
I just inadvertantly gave them a fun game! I had a half bag of wood chip mulch that had been sitting around for awhile, that I dumped in their run to keep the dust down. It was infested with earwigs!! Yuck, I HATE those things, but boy did my hens enjoy scratching through that pile and gobbling up the nasty critters!
Young and mature alike seem to really enjoy a fresh flake of hay.. I will also toss around cracked corn into the hay and they spend days scratching, moving and sitting in the hay until its old and need to be exchanged for new. I toss it in a far corner and by afternoon its been moved and spread out to their liking.