i just got my first three chickens. they are three rirs and they are so cute. they are about a year old and i got from a petting zoo. they look so scared because where i got them from had 300 chickens and now there is only 3. if there anything i should do for like a treat to get them used to there coop?
Congratulations on adopting some feathered friends!!. In addition to offering layer food and oyster shell 24/7 for hens, and Avia Charge 2000 in water (nutritional supplement) made fresh daily, mine enjoy black oil sunflower seeds, millet, and little treats of a few of the following on a given day: fresh cut up grape, berries (mine don't like strawberry), apple, banana, romaine lettuce, carrot, tomato, little bits of a good quality grain bread (not much because of salt), and on a hot summer day, cut up cantelope and watermelon. When really cold, I offer warmed mashed butternut squash and sometimes warm scrambled egg or warm oatmeal (though mine seem to hate oatmeal, other people's birds seem to like it). I give no food that are past their "prime". When mine are going to be confined to the run for several hours (hence, boredom) I will scatter some birdseed (with sunflower and millet) so they can keep busy looking for these treasures. When bored in cold winter weather, mine go crazy for fresh straw in the coop - they like to rearrange it and pick it apart. Watch yours - sometimes a hen will take to eating it, which isn't good. Hopefully that will not be the case in your case. I use straw in the winter (seems to keep them warmer) and pine wood shavings in the summer (no cedar). There are other threads on BYC about things people have done to reduce boredom - perhaps you can do a search for those. All the best with your new hen friends!. JJ