Ideas to Upgrade my Chicken Coop and Chicken Boredom Busters

[MegsEggsx]

I have a bit on time on my hands at the moment and decided I wanted to decorate my chicken coop and their yard area with some things that can keep them entertained. We built the coop ourselves and at the time we were only planning on have 4-6 chickens but we fell in love with them and have ended up with 10; 6 bantams, 4 standard. I let them free range from about 9-4 every day, but occasionally I have to leave them inside the run, especially now because my 3 silkies are in the process of transitioning to being allowed to free range and I can’t leave them in and lock the others out especially in the morning while they are laying. I don’t have a huge coop (6m sq) so sometimes they can get a little bored and take it out of each other. So I thought I should put some things in the coop and maybe around the yard for them to play with. Does anyone have any ideas for chicken boredom busters or stuff you have used in the past? Also diy is best for me. Pictures would be great! Thanks in advance!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Clutter would be ideal https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/ however you don't have too much run space to work with, so keep any additions vertical or smaller/thinner in scale.

 

[MegsEggsx]

Does anyone have any pictures of vertical clutter?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Post #32 has a good example, their first photo has a chicken roosting "tree" that's tall and narrow. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/page-4#post-21881793

Other ideas would be ladders, wooden chairs... basically things that go up, with more open bottom areas, to not eat up as much floor space.

 

[PapaRo]

It’s an old pic but a 4x4, some shelf brackets and 2x3 or 2x4s make a nice tree

 

[Chickenman MAN]

I washed out a shampoo bottle and drilled some small holes in it. Fill it with mixed maize and watch them go to town scratching and kicking it to get the corn and wheat out! (nice run BTW what is the flooring)?

 

[3KillerBs]

You might find some ideas here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-“chickens-101”-articles-don’t-mention.76003/

 

[MegsEggsx]

Yes, thanks! I will get to do some DIY tomorrow!!