Bored Chicken?

[Mrs. Mik]

I posted here (the last post in the thread) https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=113255&p=9 about a hen that I had to bring into the house and who's staying in our dog crate.

She's going to have to stay in for a while, and I'm thinking she's GOT to be bored. I don't want her to start any self-destructive behavior because of the boredom. What can I do for her to give her something to do and keep her occupied?

Thanks!

Julie

 

[Jenski]

- purple cabbage wedge
- chunk of corn on the cob
- 1/2 romaine heart
- 2-3 green or red lettuce leaves
- acorn squash wedge
- branch of broccoli
- cauliflower wedge
- carrot

 

[Jena]

Hmm yes, as above,

Is there space in the cage to hang up some veg?

Pulling apart a cabbage that is suspended will keep her busy for a little while.

Jena.

 

[Crazy_For_Chickens]

There are TONS of ways to keep a chicken happy!!!

Examples: You could hang a rag (with not very many loose strings because if they have a lot of strings then they could choke) and then she would probobly tug and pull at it for hours.

You could also get a hanging suit feeder and put her favorite foods in there. But make sure that it is high enough so then she could jump and get it.

You could put scratch on the ground so she could peck at it for the whole day.

These are just some examples, be creative and you can think up many more things for her to do.

 

[Mrs. Mik]

Thank you! Those are GREAT ideas! I'm sure she'll be very happy with some of that to keep her busy!

Julie

 

[swtangel321]

Is there a bad reason why she is inside ??

Does she have a friend that could stay with her to keep her company ??

 

[Mrs. Mik]

Quote:
She's inside because she had frozen feet (prior to all the work we did on the coop in the last couple of days). I put her in our dog's kennel (we have a 100 lb. German Shepherd, so the kennel is plenty large enough for a couple of chickens), and had her on a hot water bottle with towels over it, and put a towel over her, and put a heater on to warm her up. I also spent some time rubbing her down to try and get the blood circulating. She didn't want to eat or drink anything, but I took some bread and soaked it in water and held it up to her beak and she readily "drank" that water and ate some of the bread.

She seems to be fine now, and is showing no signs of frostbite. She's moving around and for the first time, this morning, was clucking!

Because the temps outside are so cold, I'm worried about taking her from 60 degrees and putting her outside in the coop where the temp is around zero. I'm concerned that the huge temp change would be too much for her.

I HAVE thought about bringing another chicken inside to keep her company for the next couple of months . . . I just hate to have to have two of them stuck in a dog crate for a couple of months . . . although it's a LOT nicer inside than outside these days!

Julie

 

[ldemmert]

My girls are going to be on their own for a few days over Christmas so I loaded up on toys: hung cabbage, suet basket, old blueberry muffins from an office party and best of all: a pint plastic milk bottle with 2 holes slightly larger than wild bird seed. They push the bottle all over the coop then stop to scratch where the millet and milo have fallen out. Half a cup of seed lasts 2 days because the seeds have to hit the holes just right to come out. They really go after the sound of the seed swishing in the bottle, too. Also, by accident I discovered that a few BOSS got trapped between the bottomless milk bottle I have over my feed dispenser (like an upside down funnel to keep stuff out of there). The girls can see the seeds but pecking only makes them jump. Occasionally a seed will jump into the feeder; the chicken looks around the feeder to see where it went, a very perplexed look on her face. Keeps me occupied, too.