Chicken toys? & Fun treats?

[BrandonMcfly]

Maybe one day both of us will get roosters. Then we can hatch the babies and enjoy our little grand-chickies Lol good luck entertaining your sweet girls!

I sure hope so! I hope you do too & thank you very much for the help & Goodluck to you as well

 

[Chelseyb123]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...important-and-how-you-can-provide-them.66136/

I found this and this bridge thing looked cool.

 

[Esjay600]

Thank you for this thread, I was also looking for toys for my hens!

I don't know if it's just my girls, but they absolutely LOVE cucumber! I get a long cucumber, cut it in half lengthways and pop it on the ground. They enjoy pecking the flesh out of it! Not a game, but they certainly love it.

I also lay down bricks in my chicken run on the dirt patches and flood it with water. The next day (or two days), I bring them over and pick up the brick and they go to town on the bugs that were hiding under it! Again, a brick isn't a toy, but they enjoy it .

 

[BrandonMcfly]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...important-and-how-you-can-provide-them.66136/

I found this and this bridge thing looked cool.

Wow great thanks! The article is soo helpful it gave me tons of ideas including some others already said & i love the chicken swing I'm definitely buying that as well

 

[BrandonMcfly]

Thank you for this thread, I was also looking for toys for my hens!

I don't know if it's just my girls, but they absolutely LOVE cucumber! I get a long cucumber, cut it in half lengthways and pop it on the ground. They enjoy pecking the flesh out of it! Not a game, but they certainly love it.

I also lay down bricks in my chicken run on the dirt patches and flood it with water. The next day (or two days), I bring them over and pick up the brick and they go to town on the bugs that were hiding under it! Again, a brick isn't a toy, but they enjoy it .

Thank you for this information I haven't given them a half cucumber like that I usually cut it up but I'm definitely trying this & the brick & water idea is just brilliant! we don't get a lot of rain here rarely in socal so I can do this for them about two days right?? Thanks again I hope your hens have alot of fun also & you have more toy ideas now as well

 

[Henrik Petersson]

You can do what I did and build a "Fake Chicken Bush".

I was studying my chickens as they were free ranging. They had certain bushes that they preferred to hang out in - just stand or lie around in - sometimes for hours at a time. Over time, I noticed those bushes had some things in common:

- foliage dense enough above the chickens heads for predators not to see them from above, and for rain not to reach the ground underneath;
- foliage dense enough at the sides for the chickens to be really hard to spot, but not so dense that the chickens can't see out;
- enough room between the branches inside the bush for the chickens to comfortably move around;
- easy to enter and exit for the chickens, without the entrance and exit areas being so big as to compromise the feeling of safety;
- large enough to accommodate most of the flock at one time;
- preferably some branches to comfortably sit on inside the bush;
- preferably good dust-bathing soil under the bush.

It didn't take much thinking to realize that all of the above could be achieved by by building a small hut. So I did. I put it in a part of the pen that the chickens never visited, and voilà:

 

[BrandonMcfly]

You can do what I did and build a "Fake Chicken Bush".

I was studying my chickens as they were free ranging. They had certain bushes that they preferred to hang out in - just stand or lie around in - sometimes for hours at a time. Over time, I noticed those bushes had some things in common:

- foliage dense enough above the chickens heads for predators not to see them from above, and for rain not to reach the ground underneath;
- foliage dense enough at the sides for the chickens to be really hard to spot, but not so dense that the chickens can't see out;
- enough room between the branches inside the bush for the chickens to comfortably move around;
- easy to enter and exit for the chickens, without the entrance and exit areas being so big as to compromise the feeling of safety;
- large enough to accommodate most of the flock at one time;
- preferably some branches to comfortably sit on inside the bush;
- preferably good dust-bathing soil under the bush.

It didn't take much thinking to realize that all of the above could be achieved by by building a small hut. So I did. I put it in a part of the pen that the chickens never visited, and voilà:

Wow you are amazing! I wouldn't have thought of that and your explanation is just brilliant. That is alot of work but I'm willing to do any kind of toy or fun thing for my rsls can you tell what kind of materials you used?? Is the top like water proof even though I bring my girls indoors on rainy days . I've been getting to know my chickens too & they seem to like climbing & stratching alot they love to jump to so maybe I can do the same thing as you but add some like string with fruit for them too try & jump for thank you so much

 

[Henrik Petersson]

Wow you are amazing! I wouldn't have thought of that and your explanation is just brilliant. That is alot of work but I'm willing to do any kind of toy or fun thing for my rsls can you tell what kind of materials you used?? Is the top like water proof even though I bring my girls indoors on rainy days . I've been getting to know my chickens too & they seem to like climbing & stratching alot they love to jump to so maybe I can do the same thing as you but add some like string with fruit for them too try & jump for thank you so much

Thanks for the kind words! You'd be amazed at what you can learn from your chickens just by watching them... You might start by just observing them, leisurely, and then all of a sudden you notice something about them that you hadn't noticed before!

It wasn't TOO much work to fix that hut... Too little work, in fact; my dad saw it afterwards and claimed I should have made it more sturdy. We have a lot of old wood scraps lying about, so I basically just screwed them together in a manner I saw fit (I think the dimension of the timber here is about 1 by 2 inches). The roof is indeed completely waterproof; it's tar paper, which is also pretty rough, which probably will provide a good footing if the chickens want to sit on it. But the chickens will probably appreciate such a hut even if the roof leaks a little! After all, they're meant to use it on sunny days too!

You are indeed right in your earlier mentioned observation that chickens like to fly up on things. We have put some roost of varying height, width and length in a couple of places in the pen. You really can't have too many of those, as long as they aren't in the way for you.

Also, I've noted chickens LOVE good ol' lawn furniture. Such as this:

It provides many places of cover from above, and roosting spots of many different heights. If you know someone about to throw their old chairs or tables away, grab them!

Once, I also did a very simple hut by leaning some spruce branches against the sides of a low table. The rooster immediately got inside it and made a noise meaning "come here, hens, this is an awesome place for laying eggs in!"

Some people indeed like to hang up food, like you suggested... Hard, uncooked vegetables can last for a while, such as corn cobs or cabbage heads!

 

[BrandonMcfly]

Thanks for the kind words! You'd be amazed at what you can learn from your chickens just by watching them... You might start by just observing them, leisurely, and then all of a sudden you notice something about them that you hadn't noticed before!

It wasn't TOO much work to fix that hut... Too little work, in fact; my dad saw it afterwards and claimed I should have made it more sturdy. We have a lot of old wood scraps lying about, so I basically just screwed them together in a manner I saw fit (I think the dimension of the timber here is about 1 by 2 inches). The roof is indeed completely waterproof; it's tar paper, which is also pretty rough, which probably will provide a good footing if the chickens want to sit on it. But the chickens will probably appreciate such a hut even if the roof leaks a little! After all, they're meant to use it on sunny days too!

You are indeed right in your earlier mentioned observation that chickens like to fly up on things. We have put some roost of varying height, width and length in a couple of places in the pen. You really can't have too many of those, as long as they aren't in the way for you.

Also, I've noted chickens LOVE good ol' lawn furniture. Such as this:

It provides many places of cover from above, and roosting spots of many different heights. If you know someone about to throw their old chairs or tables away, grab them!

Once, I also did a very simple hut by leaning some spruce branches against the sides of a low table. The rooster immediately got inside it and made a noise meaning "come here, hens, this is an awesome place for laying eggs in!"

Some people indeed like to hang up food, like you suggested... Hard, uncooked vegetables can last for a while, such as corn cobs or cabbage heads!

No problem yeah I do get amazed cause ever once in a while I'll be staring at them ,admiring them & im hey that's new but cool , oh I'm sure they love & appreciate it tho I know my chickens will when I do the same thing thanks ima but the stuff this week hopefully & see how they react hopefully they'll like it they're spoiled thanks on that too ima try placing things At different heights with other toys people have mention hear around the year & look for furniture we don't have any on the lawn but it wouldn't be a bad Idea even if it's scrap items that furniture is nice tho that's a funny rooster I wish I could have rooster I think they're absolutely beautiful! But if neighbors complain about the crowing It'll get taken away & I gave mine some corn they like it I haven't tried cabbage but they like cucumbers they flick it up & peck It wherever it lands so I will hang like a head from a string so they can try the cabbage on a sorta hut thing thank you

 

[Sam Wilk]

Any ideas of chicken toys ? I know some might say chickens don't need toys but I want to give them toys I like to spoil my two rsl girls so do any of you have any idea of chicken toys to buy? Or homemade? & any ideas of fun treats I give them treats but I'd like to give them some fun treats or kinda like toy treats where they have to play to get the treats also ? & this is off topic but does anyone else feel guilty about eating their chickens eggs my chickens or one of both barely started laying but I'm not planning on eating them since I see them & my dogs as my children it feels weird to me like I'm doing something bad so just curious if I'm the only one who feels guilty I haven't eaten any I think ima just give them away View attachment 1253621 my girls Dylan & Kurt now & them when they were younger
View attachment 1253623

You should poke holes in an empty water bottle, then fill it with treats or food. That way, when they roll it around or push it, they get treats