Can I buy bird toys for them?

[fluffpuffgerbil]

Hi everyone! I'm planning on getting my chicks on Friday from our feedstore(6 of them, all different breeds we're thinking) and tomorrow I'm going out to get a lamp dimmer for their heat lamp and then their brooder will be completely finished! But it's boring. They have nothing but their food and water in there. Could I buy some toys from Petsmart to put in there, like maybe a little ladder(secured to the mesh on the side of their brooder via zip ties) and maybe something else for them to play with for some entertainment, maybe something with a bell on it? I've never had chicks or birds in general before, so if there are any unsafe toys for chicks, or anything they might particularly like to play with, I'd love to know! I'll be taking them out to exercise and explore and play often I'm sure, but in their brooder I'm sure they'd like something else to mess with.

Or not, I don't know, it just looks so dull in their brooder =P

 

[DraigAthar]

The things chicks love the most are eating and sleeping, haha. But if you want them to be slightly more entertained, give them anything to scratch in (bedding, a little pan of clean sand, etc.) and give them some sort of food treat that you can dangle just at head level so they have to hop up a tiny bit to peck at it. I'll clip a leaf of kale to the side of the brooder and let them attack that. It will entertain them until it's all gone. Also, if you want to endlessly entertain chicks and laugh your butt off at the same time, take a sharpie marker and draw a few dots about chick high on the inside wall of the brooder. Be careful with most other toys, because a chick will eat anything and everything it can pick apart, and also could get tangled up in toys that have string or rope in them.

 

[fluffpuffgerbil]

Okay, thank you so much for the answer!! We got some snow today so I can't go out anyway, but my mom did manage to get the light dimmer we needed for the lamp. Anyway, I'll keep in mind what you suggested. ^^

 

[fldiver97]

I am getting baby chicks for the third time next week, always only have 3-5 little ones at a time. My first chickens were 4 and 5 weeks old and it was May when I brought them home. At 3 weeks old I gave them fine grit and let them have little bits of lettuce, kale, small pieces of cooked spaghetti etc. They started spending an hour a day in the yard, scratching in the dirt and eating little bugs. The second time I got chicks at a day old. They only fate starter feed for the first 10-14 days, then had fine grit available and some treats. I did not really give them bird toys but they grew up with a big plush chicken in the brooder and they loved to hide under the 'wings'. After a few days they climbed all over the stuffed thing. I had to wash it often due to the little ones pooping all over!!!!! I also started putting a small branch in the brooder and the chicks would sometimes sit on it. Make sure the brooder is big enough for them to have space to run around, scratch in the bedding like grown chickens. I used paper towels as bedding for the first three days before I switched to shavings. In short.....I did not use typical bird toys but the chicks had 'things to do' depending on their age (and weather.....on nice days they had some outdoor playtime once they were partially feathered))

 

[PrairieChickens]

When I had two little chicks in my brooder, I gave them all sorts of things to serve as enrichment objects. I was careful not to put anything into the brooder that they might be able to eat part of or hurt themselves on, but that didn't limit me much. I put in an old CD one day, and a child's handheld mirror another. They had a little mini flower pot turned upside-down that they could jump up onto, and a crocheted "blanket" (chick sized) that they could sleep on. I also had an old Disco Ball Christmas ornament, and my gosh, one of the chicks in particular LOVED to jump on top of that thing and stretch. He looked like he was trying to dance! I even drew flowers on the inside of their brooder and put up a large photograph taken at chick-eye level of a mushroom.

Note--although I have a set of silk flowers in the brooder at the time I took the photo, I don't recommend leaving such an item in a brooder unattended. It would be very easy for them to pick off pieces of the flowers and eat them.

Mostly, I was going for colorful, shiny, or tactile items, and I moved things around every day--sometimes more than once. The brooder was never the same way twice, and I think that stimulation is the reason these two chicks have done so well once being integrated with the rest of the flock.