Dust baths and chicken toys

[Kwarner12]

My husband and I finished our larger run, I need to add a few things to it to keep the chickies busy. I need to put in a dust bath and I have DE (food grade) but there are many different types of sand that I've come across. I was hoping someone would give me an idea of what type of sand is best used in the dust baths. What do you use and do your chickies like it? Right now my girls are rolling in the dirt beneath their coop but I don't think that makes them very happy. Also, wanted to know what sort of things do your chickens like to play with. I want to string up a corn cob from my garden for them and some people have recommended veggies like lettuce too, but what else do your chickens like?

 

[Abriana]

For dust baths:
A box of regular dirt works great, and though it may not seem so, chickens do enjoy making their own bowls in the ground and using them. It is what they naturally do. I just let mine make their own, that way I won't have to worry about placement or anything. They make them where they want.
For chicken toys:
A head of raw cabbage hung from a high place works great. Or: CD's hung for them to peck at, melons or cucumbers cut in half, scrap wood nailed together to make makeshift roosts for them to check out and perch on (but put it in a place under a tree or close to the coop so it can't become a drive thru for hawks), meal worms, or hard boiled eggs crushed up.
My chickens LOVE: steak (without seasonings), cooked chicken, grapes, cherry tomatoes, cherries, raw oatmeal, cherries, blackberries, raspberries, wineberries, clover, salad, egg (raw or cooked), bread, and meal worms.
Also, move their pen often. Big clumps of grass or bramble the chickens can make tunnels inside of. Chickens are forest animals and love underbrush and making tunnels. If moving the pen isn't an option, take big branches and put them in a pile inside the pen for them to play with. I do that and mine love it. I also have wineberry bramble. That is a huge treat for them to be there. I often find them so entertaining when they are busy in the bramble, that I will sit for hours watching them.
Good luck!

 

[Pat Mcaffee]

I always put dry, loose dirt in an old tire. It definitely helps in winter when the ground is frozen! My chickens love hanging cabbage and I hang cd's in my brooder. The chicks love them. For chicks, you can use parrot toys and such. My hens really like anything- sometimes I drill holes in a harder water bottle and put wheat seeds or cracked grain in. Don't spend money on a toy, just make one. Also, my hens love mealworms. Anything that requires thought.

 

[Kwarner12]

For dust baths:
A box of regular dirt works great, and though it may not seem so, chickens do enjoy making their own bowls in the ground and using them. It is what they naturally do. I just let mine make their own, that way I won't have to worry about placement or anything. They make them where they want.
For chicken toys:
A head of raw cabbage hung from a high place works great. Or: CD's hung for them to peck at, melons or cucumbers cut in half, scrap wood nailed together to make makeshift roosts for them to check out and perch on (but put it in a place under a tree or close to the coop so it can't become a drive thru for hawks), meal worms, or hard boiled eggs crushed up.
My chickens LOVE: steak (without seasonings), cooked chicken, grapes, cherry tomatoes, cherries, raw oatmeal, cherries, blackberries, raspberries, wineberries, clover, salad, egg (raw or cooked), bread, and meal worms.
Also, move their pen often. Big clumps of grass or bramble the chickens can make tunnels inside of. Chickens are forest animals and love underbrush and making tunnels. If moving the pen isn't an option, take big branches and put them in a pile inside the pen for them to play with. I do that and mine love it. I also have wineberry bramble. That is a huge treat for them to be there. I often find them so entertaining when they are busy in the bramble, that I will sit for hours watching them.
Good luck!

Thanks! Definitely going to try some of these ideas!

My pen is stationary and they have 1/2 in hardware cloth on all sides (except the run directly connected to the coop and the coop it's self. That's 1/4 in. They're well protected from hawks and other critters. I can't let them free range like I would love to do, because I have an untrustworthy neighbor with an out of control dog. I want to keep my chickens.
I gave them some cucumber yesterday that was left over from canning pickles. They also love strawberries and apples from the near by apple tree. I have roosts in the run that I built, one low and 2 up higher with tree branches through the coop to help the smallest of babies to climb to the higher roosts.

 

[Kwarner12]

I always put dry, loose dirt in an old tire. It definitely helps in winter when the ground is frozen! My chickens love hanging cabbage and I hang cd's in my brooder. The chicks love them. For chicks, you can use parrot toys and such. My hens really like anything- sometimes I drill holes in a harder water bottle and put wheat seeds or cracked grain in. Don't spend money on a toy, just make one. Also, my hens love mealworms. Anything that requires thought.

How big do the holes need to be in the bottle? That sounds like a great toy!! They would go nuts for it!

 

[Pat Mcaffee]

Not very big- I'm not a math person. You definitely don't want them too large or all of the treats will fall out.

 

[aart]

Right now my girls are rolling in the dirt beneath their coop but I don't think that makes them very happy.

If it's dry and loose they probably love it.
Don't put DE in a dust bath....just plain dirt is fine, maybe add a bit of wood ash.

Stuff in run for 'entertainment' ......roosts, logs, stumps, old table/chair/bench, pallets leaned against walls or up on concrete blocks....doesn't take much.