Bored Chicks

[_Kelley_]

Hi! I have 3 sweet baby chicks in the brooder. They’re almost 2 weeks old. It seems early but I think they’re pretty bored in the brooder. I put a little roosting bar for them to practice perching. Is there anything else I can entertain them with? I read somewhere a clump of grass would be ok or a little Tupperware thing of dirt.
thoughts or suggestions?

 

[9SpiceyChickens]

Hi! I have 3 sweet baby chicks in the brooder. They’re almost 2 weeks old. It seems early but I think they’re pretty bored in the brooder. I put a little roosting bar for them to practice perching. Is there anything else I can entertain them with? I read somewhere a clump of grass would be ok or a little Tupperware thing of dirt.
thoughts or suggestions?

I found mine always liked a little grass & if you make them a little dust bathing area, especially if you put a mealworm or two in the sand.

 

[_Kelley_]

We have sand and dirt in the back yard, can I use that? Should I buy special dust bath dirt/sand for them since their so little? If I give them a meal worm or 2 do they have to have grit? Would they get grit from the dirt/sand bath?

 

[9SpiceyChickens]

We have sand and dirt in the back yard, can I use that? Should I buy special dust bath dirt/sand for them since their so little? If I give them a meal worm or 2 do they have to have grit? Would they get grit from the dirt/sand bath?

If the mealworms seem too big, you can break them in half. What I did/do is put one mealworm's on the bottom, then a little dirt on top, then another mealworm, then a little more dirt. They love digging through it, looking for a treat.

 

[jmpk2012]

We have 7 chicks aged 3-4 weeks and 2 weeks ago we felt the same, that they seemed bored... so to stave off any mischievous thoughts, to our brooder we started adding 'toys' and we now have (all found in the yard or around the house, no purchases): roosting bars at 2 different heights, a chicken swing, a little ladder, a mirror, and a Tupperware container full of dirt/sand. Most days the kids and I add clumps of weeds or grass we pull out by the roots, and cut ants or other worms/bugs we find in the yard. Treats in very small quantities go in daily including dried mealworms, cracked corn, yogurt, watermelon. (I started them on chick grit for a week before I introduced any treats)

What they seem to LOVE are the roosting bars (especially the higher one), the sandbox, the leaf cutter ants, and the grass/weeds. This weekend to change it up I tried hanging the grass clumps (roots down) from the metal grate I use as a cover on the brooder box and it's been really entertaining for them (and us!). They hop around trying to get to different parts of the roots. We add the leaf cuter ants to the sandbox and it's hilarious to watch them go after the ants and chase the chick who catches an ant.

What they don't seem to care for much - which surprised me - are the mealworms (maybe b/c they are dried. I tried rehydrating them with some broth but still not much interest) & the swing.

Here are some pics of the toys in our brooder - in the one you can see the whole setup and in the other you can see one of our chicks playing in front of the mirror.

Good luck with your chicks!!

 

[cluckadoodledoo13]

We occupied ours by using a few perches. I also found that they liked having a mirror in there. I’ve no idea why but i bought one from the pet shop that had a bell on the end, probably designed for a budgie or something like that. They loved it, they went mental with it.

 

[nikolairapunzel]

We have sand and dirt in the back yard, can I use that? Should I buy special dust bath dirt/sand for them since their so little? If I give them a meal worm or 2 do they have to have grit? Would they get grit from the dirt/sand bath?

Yes just go dig up a nice big clump of earth and plop it in there. They will probably be freaked out by it at first, but then they will.love digging though it. They will get grit in the soil as well.

 

[_Kelley_]

We have 7 chicks aged 3-4 weeks and 2 weeks ago we felt the same, that they seemed bored... so to stave off any mischievous thoughts, to our brooder we started adding 'toys' and we now have (all found in the yard or around the house, no purchases): roosting bars at 2 different heights, a chicken swing, a little ladder, a mirror, and a Tupperware container full of dirt/sand. Most days the kids and I add clumps of weeds or grass we pull out by the roots, and cut ants or other worms/bugs we find in the yard. Treats in very small quantities go in daily including dried mealworms, cracked corn, yogurt, watermelon. (I started them on chick grit for a week before I introduced any treats)

What they seem to LOVE are the roosting bars (especially the higher one), the sandbox, the leaf cutter ants, and the grass/weeds. This weekend to change it up I tried hanging the grass clumps (roots down) from the metal grate I use as a cover on the brooder box and it's been really entertaining for them (and us!). They hop around trying to get to different parts of the roots. We add the leaf cuter ants to the sandbox and it's hilarious to watch them go after the ants and chase the chick who catches an ant.

What they don't seem to care for much - which surprised me - are the mealworms (maybe b/c they are dried. I tried rehydrating them with some broth but still not much interest) & the swing.

Here are some pics of the toys in our brooder - in the one you can see the whole setup and in the other you can see one of our chicks playing in front of the mirror.

Good luck with your chicks!!

A swing is a great idea!! Thanks for posting a picture. I think my 7 year old will be as entertained as the chicks. I just put a Tupperware container of sandy dirt in there. Is that sufficient for providing them grit? Do I need to buy grit?

 

[nikolairapunzel]

A swing is a great idea!! Thanks for posting a picture. I think my 7 year old will be as entertained as the chicks. I just put a Tupperware container of sandy dirt in there. Is that sufficient for providing them grit? Do I need to buy grit?

You do not need to buy grit if you are giving them soil with little pebbles in it. Not just sand, but soil if that makes sense?

 

[rosemarythyme]

I just put a Tupperware container of sandy dirt in there. Is that sufficient for providing them grit? Do I need to buy grit?

Depends on the size of the sandy dirt particles. Too tiny like beach sand is too fine, but if there's larger bits in there that should suffice.