Enrichment/chicken toys

[dorklandresident]

I am posting this here because I am not sure where else it should be.

I worry that my chickens are bored. How can you tell if a chicken is bored or unhappy? They don't pick on each other or display any other bad behaviors. All they do is eat, drink, peck around in the dirt, sit and repeat until dusk when they go to bed. I have tried to give them various things to make their life more interesting, but they have not appreciated anything I have done so far.

They won't eat any treats or kitchen scraps. Not even dried worms. The only treat I have given them that they have eaten were live meal worms. I can't do that everyday.

I got them those colorful feathers and tried to make a toy... They were terrified of it.

Gave them spray millet... Didn't even look at it.

Put in new sand for them... They acted as if it had been there the whole time and did absolutely nothing with it.

The ONLY thing they ever played with was not intended to be a toy. I had put together a cardboard barrier for their nest box. They dragged it out of the hen house and tore it up.

Should I just start giving them random cardboard boxes and see what happens?

Are my chickens defective? Did I get particularly stupid ones or something?

 

[ShweeB1229]

I had the same worries with my 3 inherited chickens. They're fearful of anything new in their run & only seem to be happiest eating or foraging. Have you tried a treat ball, either suspended or grounded? Or placing treats on a log as a treat? What about little mirrors or hanging toys & perches or swings? I've found my girls are pretty content with fresh fruits & veggies w/ occassional cheese, egg or yogurt served on a log & scratch scattered every morning in their run & an hour or two of supervised foraging in the early afternoon, followed by mealworms to lure them back in. Clean sand to bathe in is key for them too. Keep trying new but safe/healthy things & see how they do, good luck!

 

[Iluveggers]

Throw in a bag of dried leaves, add perches/tunnels to climb on or under, or fresh veggie sprouts maybe? When I first dumped a bag of leaves mine all ran away until I dropped scratch on top and a few braved the new object to find the scratch and the rest followed, but now when I dump a bag they all come running over to spread them out and search for treasures underneath! I also have a pallet raised on cinderblocks that they like to climb on & under.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Chickens don't really play like some animals do. Yours sound pretty normal and the fact they aren't displaying any negative behaviors is a good thing.

Personally I'm not a big fan of food/treats as "toys" though they're fine in limited amounts or for limited time use.

To keep them busy without feeding them, you can add items they can interact with, such as roosts to fly up on, clutter in the run that they can climb on/walk around, dust baths (if they don't have suitable substrate for that right now), piles of weeds or dried leaves to dig through for bugs.

 

[dorklandresident]

I had the same worries with my 3 inherited chickens. They're fearful of anything new in their run & only seem to be happiest eating or foraging. Have you tried a treat ball, either suspended or grounded? Or placing treats on a log as a treat? What about little mirrors or hanging toys & perches or swings? I've found my girls are pretty content with fresh fruits & veggies w/ occassional cheese, egg or yogurt served on a log & scratch scattered every morning in their run & an hour or two of supervised foraging in the early afternoon, followed by mealworms to lure them back in. Clean sand to bathe in is key for them too. Keep trying new but safe/healthy things & see how they do, good luck!

The treats as toys isn't working out for me. I have tried SO MANY things and they won't eat any of it. The best they will do us take it out of my hand and then drop it. If I leave food on the ground for them they never touch it. They only eat chicken feed and live bugs. I didn't think of putting a log in there. I might try that.

I put a milk crate I'm there this morning because they seem to like sitting on the one I have out in the yard when. I let them out.

 

[Sally PB]

Far and away, the best "toys" I've given my chickens is piles of leaves. A close second was a half bale of straw that was starting to fall apart.

Unfortunately, leaves are only available for a few weeks in the fall. Some people save bags of them to put out later in the winter.

I did build a "walking log" for them, and they like that. It's just a log up on some supports, about 1' off the ground. It has one branch sticking out, and they perch on that too.

Last winter, I made a small snowman and put it in their run. At first they were freaked out, but then they ate the sunflower seeds that made the face. They also pecked at his belly and ate bits of the snow.

 

[dorklandresident]

Far and away, the best "toys" I've given my chickens is piles of leaves. A close second was a half bale of straw that was starting to fall apart.

Unfortunately, leaves are only available for a few weeks in the fall. Some people save bags of them to put out later in the winter.

I did build a "walking log" for them, and they like that. It's just a log up on some supports, about 1' off the ground. It has one branch sticking out, and they perch on that too.

Last winter, I made a small snowman and put it in their run. At first they were freaked out, but then they ate the sunflower seeds that made the face. They also pecked at his belly and ate bits of the snow.
View attachment 2937563

That snow man is super cute. I guess I will be gathering leaves this weekend

 

[linguini]

Give them a pumpkin and cut out a few holes so they can start pecking!

 

[blackdog043]

Sounds like normal chicken life to me.
If you want to make it interesting, throw a garter snake in the run, that will make an interesting game of, I want the snake! If you can't find a snake throw a couple spaghetti noodles in the run. Either will give them some entertainment for a little bit!

 

[tigger19687]

Only reason I got a pumpkin this year was for the hens and they didn't even want to look at it !
Somewhere in my last few posts I have a pic on my run. Nothing fancy, just a 1/2 bale of hay and a tarp full of leaves all mixed together. Keeps the ground covered and not frozen.. toss in some scratch once and a while for them to look for.
Also have a landscape post across 2 cinder blocks for a perch, a board across that and 2 sticks so they can 'roost' but I think the cold gets under their butt so they like to stay on the ground mostly.

I tried a kitty bell ball.. nope they didn't care.... toddler xylophone but didn't tie it down so they knocked it over and it's in there somewhere under the hay/leaves lol

I have a flock block but I chop off a bunch and toss it in there today for an Xmas treat