Do you think chickens get bored?

[Country Chick at Heart]

My generally quite and sedate girls have gotten really loud! I'm wondering if maybe they are bored. Although it could be a combination of boredom and demands for treats. My backyard wasn't all that landscaped when they arrived. I at one time had an above ground pool, but I have some veggies, a little grass and some flowers in pots. They have done away with the grass and some of the other potted things they liked.....no veggies, thank goodness! Although I do have wire around the beds. I'm thinking I need to get some turf down to give them something to do....maybe section it off so each section has a rest period after exposure. And I'm looking into finally "doing" my backyard so that I can plant plants etc. Been reading up on plants chickens like and don't like. I can only imagine how loud they would be if I left them in the combo coop/run we have for them. They do get treats- on occasion like worms, watermelon, yogurt, etc. And I have given them a flock block and I throw down scratch for them. So, what do you think? The desert oasis is getting to their jungle fowl heritage?

 

[theoldchick]

One of the cheapest and effective chicken toys I've ever seen is a simple 16 oz plastic drinking bottle(or smaller) partially filled with scratch seed with several holes drilled in the side. Toss it among your chickens and watch them peck at it. As the bottle rolls from the action of the pecking beaks, the seed is dispensed. At first some chickens may be intimidated by the moving bottle but soon they will be chasing the bottle all over the place.

And if you are really creative you can make your own tiny wire cages to put greens in and hang from a tree or coop. Before the plastic bottle became available, folks filled a brown paper shopping bags with garden goodies and hung it for the chickens to peck at. Sorta a redneck pinata for chickens. Be sure to rotate your toys to keep the chickens from getting bored.

 

[GardenerGal]

I don't think that chickens get bored in the way that we experience boredom, but because they are active and "wired" for certain behaviors and activities (and of course they need exercise too), I believe they do have a better, more natural quality of life if they have plenty of room and "chickeny" things to do.

Some of the things I do to make their lives more interesting, pleasant and active:

- access to shelter and an outdoor run so they can go inside and outside as they please. The they also can get into sunshine or shade as they need, so if there's a patch of sunny ground they can bask in the rays.
- a dirt- dustbath pit in the run so they can dustbathe. It not only cleans away insect and mite varmints, it also cools the chickens in hot weather, and gives them a physical activity that is good for their bodies and plumage.
- a big scoop of scratch feed (mixed commercial birdseed and some layer pellets) every morning out in their run. Pecking and scratching at the ground is the most natural way for chickens to feed, and the act of doing it keeps their claws and beaks trimmed naturally. They have regular feed bowls and water in different places around the barn and run, but the scratch is what they seem to gravitate to first. Even though there are full bowls of feed mixed with birdseed, they will go for the same stuff scattered on the ground, first!
- Healthy treats that keep them active: I'll throw an entire summer squash, quarter of a watermelon, kitchen scraps in a big heap, and whole edible weeds (garlic mustard, dandelions and so on). It can take them half the day to pick them away. They stay busy and get a healthy snack too. I scatter the treats around the run and barn with plenty for everyone so everyone gets a fair share and no one gets "bullied" away from a treat.
- lots of places to fly to and see stuff from different vantage points. Like their jungle fowl ancestors, my chooks seem to alternate between perching in high areas to survey what's going on, and hiding in the dark recesses of the barn (there's a storage stall in the back where they congregate) -- it's like they are in the ancestral jungle, hiding in the underbrush or sitting in a tree to watch for predators.

So, even though they are living in a domestic environment, my chooks have a setting that approximates their natural habitat and gives them the "topography" and space to do their different behaviors, and to be active or to rest. I've never seen anyone look bored!

 

[Country Chick at Heart]

Thank you both for your thoughts and suggestions! I've been growing a seed mixture called "chicken salad" I found on line that I want to put in the yard with some arched wire over the growing box so they can peck the greens as they grow through the wire. I wanted to have a couple of these around the yard. I like the water bottle idea! They love their scratch - or chicken crack as my neighbor calls it! They do get kitchen scraps and grass, when I mow, along with special treats like yogurt and watermelon, but maybe I need to increase the amound they receive.

Thanks again!

 

[fuzziebutt]

One of the cheapest and effective chicken toys I've ever seen is a simple 16 oz plastic drinking bottle(or smaller) partially filled with scratch seed with several holes drilled in the side. Toss it among your chickens and watch them peck at it. As the bottle rolls from the action of the pecking beaks, the seed is dispensed. At first some chickens may be intimidated by the moving bottle but soon they will be chasing the bottle all over the place.

And if you are really creative you can make your own tiny wire cages to put greens in and hang from a tree or coop. Before the plastic bottle became available, folks filled a brown paper shopping bags with garden goodies and hung it for the chickens to peck at. Sorta a redneck pinata for chickens. Be sure to rotate your toys to keep the chickens from getting bored.

What some absolutely cool ideas!! Thank you !

 

[thaiturkey]

Chickens may not need the intellectual stimulation offered to humans by soap operas and Fox News but they must, surely, need some diversions to keep them interested in life. A bored chicken is unlikely to be as healthy and productive as it might otherwise be. A confined flock is more prone to disease.

Animals are meant to have some space in which to wander. There are people who are proud to live in the open spaces afforded by the countryside and yet they keep their chickens in big wooden boxes with, at best, a large wire cage outside. Some of the same people also decry factory farming methods despite their own small versions of the same. We tried keeping laying hens in a coop and run and the poor little devils were forever trying to escape.

We now have bantams free ranging where ever they want on our land. They have the choice of long grass, short grass, dust, shade, bushes and logs as places to forage. They aren't interested in manufactured feed but will eat cooked rice from time to time. We have only to ensure that they have water. They rejected the open coop and roost in one of our trees. They are too young to lay yet but I hope that the quality of the eggs will reflect their natural lifestyle.

We have two goslings, three weeks old. Just now, they are too young to wander free without their parents. They live under a split bamboo dome on grass with feed, water and their own private swimming pool. Each morning, they are treated to a supervised graze in the open while we move the dome to fresh grass. When they are old enough, they will also be allowed to range. They will have grass, shade and a pond. In the rainy season there is also a small lake for them to enjoy.

In other words, chickens and other poultry need space and the means to do what comes naturally. They may not be the smartest creatures but they are happier when free. They can be kept locked up but that amounts to using them rather than cherishing them.

 

[RHRanch]

Chickens are active creatures with an urge to find food, etc. If they have little to stimulate them, I am sure they are bored. Confinement can lead to negative behaviors such as picking, but providing them with enrichments can cut down on neg behaviors, such as picking, etc.

 

[Country Chick at Heart]

Well, sounds like I'm on the right track letting them free range in the yard and return to the coop at night, I just need to incorporate some interesting toys and move up on the landscaping project so they have some plant life and grass to keep them occupied. Thanks again for all the suggestions. By the way "the old chick" the water bottle is working great! Didn't take the girls long to figure it out!!

I haven't tried the hanging wire balls yet, I'll make some of those this weekend!

 

[mondotomhead]

One of the cheapest and effective chicken toys I've ever seen is a simple 16 oz plastic drinking bottle(or smaller) partially filled with scratch seed with several holes drilled in the side. Toss it among your chickens and watch them peck at it. As the bottle rolls from the action of the pecking beaks, the seed is dispensed. At first some chickens may be intimidated by the moving bottle but soon they will be chasing the bottle all over the place.

And if you are really creative you can make your own tiny wire cages to put greens in and hang from a tree or coop. Before the plastic bottle became available, folks filled a brown paper shopping bags with garden goodies and hung it for the chickens to peck at. Sorta a redneck pinata for chickens. Be sure to rotate your toys to keep the chickens from getting bored.

What a great idea! I'm making one of these tonight when I get home. Thank you so much

 

[GardenerGal]

LOL @ theoldchick's "redneck pinata"! What a great name.