ideas for boredom busters with cheap stuff???

[Chicks in VA]

I have 1 tier in my woods i have an idea but i want to hear your ideas for it
also i want to make some things for them to perch on and jump on
my idea for the tire is to drill it into my coop and use it as a nesting box/ hiding whole
just any Pearch ideas or any ideas to make the coop more fun
its a smaller run because it 2 birds its 14x5x14 my coop is basically 4x4x4x4
Thanks in advance

 

[Chicks in VA]

i guess nobady has any ideas
@MysteryChicken @NatJ @Bakbuk @Chikyboy@The-White-Elephant

 

[MysteryChicken]

I usually buy cheap boredom busters, like mirror toys, xylophones, treat baskets, & treat dispensing balls.

I like adding extra roosts, for those who like to be up high.

 

[TX Chick Noob]

Some pics of your current setup might help people come up with suggestions.

 

[Chicks in VA]

I usually buy cheap boredom busters, like mirror toys, xylophones, treat baskets, & treat dispensing balls.

I like adding extra roosts, for those who like to be up high.

okay cool

Some pics of your current setup might help people come up with suggestions.

okay will get some tomorrow and i have cleaned it out of old busters that they got bored of so its emty

 

[NatJ]

My basic ideas for chicken entertainment:

--perches in the run as well as the coop, preferably at different heights. I like to make each perch go all the way across from one side to the other, because it's easy to install them that way.

--stuff on the ground for them to scratch through. This would include bedding, table scraps & kitchen waste, garden weeds, pretty much anything that might otherwise go in a compost pile. If there is a separate compost pile, I might move that into the chicken run too.

My personal experience is that chickens like to spend time dustbathing, preening, watching the world, and especially foraging for food. Scratching through the bedding looking for another bit of apple core or another worm can keep them busy for quite a while. Adding the food scraps each day gives them something new, and other things get added when they are available (like weeds from the garden or grass clippings from the lawn or dead leaves raked up in the fall.)

I have no experience with things like mirrors or xylophones for chickens. Some people say the chickens like them, and they may be right, but I have simply never tried them.

 

[aart]

Don't think food(scraps/treats) is a great boredom buster.

Here's some non food ideas"
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/

 

[NatJ]

Don't think food(scraps/treats) is a great boredom buster.

Here's some non food ideas"
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/

I probably wasn't clear enough. I like large amounts of stuff that chickens can scratch through, with only a little bit of stuff they will actually eat. So they spend a lot of time scratching for a little bit of eating.

I also tend to forget how variable kitchen scraps are. They can be bad or good for chickens depending on what is in them.

Raw fruit & vegetable waste is generally fine: some they will eat, some they will not, but it's mostly got water & fiber so it won't make them fat. I've never yet seen a chicken that would eat so much plant matter they skipped their normal food and became malnourished. Chickens can spend a lot of time picking the inside bits out of an avocador or banana peel, while leaving the outside. Or ripping bites off an apple core. Or scratching through carrot peels to see if something better is hidden underneath.

Things with lots of fat, salt, or sugar would not be good for chickens to have much of.
Things like egg and meat are good for chickens (apart from fat/salt considerations).

The ratio of chickens to food scraps also makes a big difference. One slice of bread for a dozen or more chickens can be fine, but that same slice of bread for one chicken is too much.

 

[3KillerBs]

Give them opportunities to engage in natural chicken behaviors -- perching, dust bathing, scratching through stuff in search of food, etc.