keeping chickens busy

[outdoorsman]

First I'll say thanks to the byc community. The people here make this site something special.

We have 5 hens and 6 chicks. The chicks are almost as big as the hens but the hens are teaching us about pecking order. They bloodied the back of the head of 2 of the chicks. We seperated the hens and chicks again. So we (minnie farm) and I have been reading here for months. I wanted to find ways to entertain the girls while they are penned up. I made a hanging, swinging treat. Seems to work good so I thought I would share it here.
I used 14 ga wire. Wrapped the wire around a paint can. A soup can will work great as well. Give it 2 twist holding the end of the wire and the main wire tight with vise grips. Give it one twist back and the wire will be close to having a locking loop there. Mend that locking loop as needed. From the loop I wanted about 12 inches wire. Push wire through apples, watermelon rind, lettuce hearts etc. You'll need a place to hang it from. I hang it high so they have to reach for it. It entertained the chickens almost as mich as us.

 

[outdoorsman]

I need to ad that you should bend a quarter inch of the wire over to keep the treat on the wire.

Do you have any other ideas for keeping chickens busy. We do have 3 bird dogs that could keep them busy but I bet that will be bad for egg production. Dogs would be happy.

We do free range all the chickens every evening.

 

[outdoorsman]

Parts and tools I used.

 

[4 the Birds]

Food or hanging treats can also be a main spot for conflicts or pecking. When I feed treats or pellets, I use multiple feeders or toss out on the ground to reduce conflicts and ensure that alpha birds do not pick on the young or old. Plenty of roost bars and a few objects to climb on or under helps with interest in the run. Free ranging is ideal to keep birds busy hunting and scratching for bugs.

 

[Daisy8s]

Have you seen the hay nets that people use for horses? It's a wide mesh bag with big spaces that hold hay. I have a string bag that was meant as a shopping bag. I put whole cabbages in it and hang the bag by the handles in the coop. It works just like the hay net for horses.

I'd worry a bit about a wire curved into a hook...could catch a bird's comb or eye as they were jumping.

Also, lots of different levels is a good idea as it gives birds places to get out of the other's way.

Finally, every flock just has to work out its pecking order. Separating them, if they'll have to be reunited eventually, just delays the inevitable. The secret to avoiding serious damage is giving birds lots and lots of room. The one being picked on has to be able to get away from the current bully.

Feather picking and blood-drawing damage is a key sign of too small confinement.

 

[outdoorsman]

I appreciate your replies. I see buff orpington88 wrote an article about this subject. Our birds have settled down a bit now. I plan to build some more perches for them soon.