Chicken Play!

[swtjuly6]

My chickens seem board. Any kind of toys or something that I can add to amuse them and keep them entertained? I feel sorry for them. I have 40 chickens and two roo's. I have two chickens I keep indoors as pets and I let them have run of the house when I am home also any sugguestions on potty training chickens? I have the chicken fever bad!!! Thanks for any suggs.

 

[Kevin565]

Chickens don't have the necessary muscles for holding their feces. That's why they are usually diapered when allowed in the house.

 

[mickey328]

The best "toys" are bugs! Get some live crickets or grasshoppers and watch 'em run and chase...they'll have a blast, and so will you

 

[swtjuly6]

oh, I didn't know they had diapers for chickens...where would I get them at? Thanks for your post!

 

[Gofygure]

Chicken psychology is a bit different than mammals. They don't really play together as a means of establishing a bond, except perhaps when they are young. I second the suggestion to get them some bugs to peck at. Scratch grains are also a fun treat that will keep them busy. If you have any healthy leftovers from the kitchen, they love getting a little variety and some new flavors in their diet.

 

[terryg]

You are right to want to keep your chickens busy. Bored chickens end up with pecking and aggression issues. For chickens confined to a pen, I recommend keeping a compost pile in the run. It gives them a place to dig and scratch, with new things to eat daily. I have photos of my set-up here:
http://hencam.com/faq/compost-in-the-chicken-run/
Chickens don't need to "play" but they do need new things to investigate, dirt to dig in, and a variety of food.
I personally think that chickens in the house are a bad idea. They can't be potty trained, and wearing a diaper, which keeps the poop near the butt, is not a healthy thing for birds. They also need to be able to preen back there, which they can't do when wearing a diaper. Also, chickens shed copious amounts of dander, and they potentially care bacteria, like staph and salmonella. Once in a while it's funny to see them wander in the house, but it's not something to be done regularly (I know there are house chicken proponents out there. We can agree to disagree.) If you do insist on keeping chickens indoors, make sure that they get plenty of outside time so that they can dust bathe, scratch in the ground (essential for feet and mental health) and forage for greens.

 

[Loghousemom]

You are right to want to keep your chickens busy. Bored chickens end up with pecking and aggression issues. For chickens confined to a pen, I recommend keeping a compost pile in the run. It gives them a place to dig and scratch, with new things to eat daily. I have photos of my set-up here:
http://hencam.com/faq/compost-in-the-chicken-run/
Chickens don't need to "play" but they do need new things to investigate, dirt to dig in, and a variety of food. 
I personally think that chickens in the house are a bad idea. They can't be potty trained, and wearing a diaper, which keeps the poop near the butt, is not a healthy thing for birds. They also need to be able to preen back there, which they can't do when wearing a diaper. Also, chickens shed copious amounts of dander, and they potentially care bacteria, like staph and salmonella. Once in a while it's funny to see them wander in the house, but it's not something to be done regularly (I know there are house chicken proponents out there. We can agree to disagree.) If you do insist on keeping chickens indoors, make sure that they get plenty of outside time so that they can dust bathe, scratch in the ground (essential for feet and mental health) and forage for greens.

I love this idea of the compost in their run. I have been thinking of a good way to include something similar into my run as I slowly construct it. I may do exactly as you have. One question though, do you also toss in any used bedding from their own coops? I was going to toss it over in the other compost piles which are on the opposite side of the coop. They only get access to those when they free range. I use straw on the floor of the coop and have been thinking I could use it to create a compost pile for them to play in, and then just add the garden and yard waste to it... But I wasn't sure if it would be okay for them to dig through the stuff that was pooed on from their floor.

As of now, I have two compost piles, one with some pumpkins I let grow as cover for the chickens while they play, (which they can access while free ranging) and another "working" pile that I add all the garden and household green waste and turn every few days. I do already separate what I know the chickens don't like and then give them first pick of the remaining scraps before they go to the pile. I have a feeder tray made from a cut up old tire and chunk of plywood that I lay things out on for them to dig through and then whatever is left goes to the pile the next day when I bring out the next batch of kitchen scraps.

 

[terryg]

In order to control internal parasites, I put the bulk of the chicken manure in a separate bin away from the chickens. I use discarded trash cans with the bottoms cut off. You can see that idea here:
http://hencam.com/faq/chicken-manure-management/

As far as separating what the chickens don't eat - the beauty of the contained compost in their run is that I toss things in that I know they won't eat, like lemon peels. They shred it up and turn it into good earth for me. I'm lazy - I let them do the work!

 

[sandmbaker]

oh, I didn't know they had diapers for chickens...where would I get them at? Thanks for your post!

look on ebay just type in chicken diapers. they are $7 and $8 bucks. im getting some too.