Keeping your chickens entertained

[a little chiken]

I know this sounds odd but does anyone else think about chicken toys or things to keep your chickens entertained? I cannot free range my chickens because I have dogs that would enjoy having them for dinner. We have a large coop and we give our chickens the lay crumble, scratch and oyster shells and garden veggies as well as bread when i have some. They have roosts and nest boxes. I guess I just feel like they get bored. I mean even my guinea pigs and rabbits have toys. (yes I am weird). I have looked for chicken toys but other than the treat ball I cannot find anything. Anyone else thinking about toys or stimulating your chickens or am I really just that weird?

 

[silvia32444]

What about some alive and jumping insect ?

 

[earlybird10842]

I built a playground for them in part of their run. the link is in my signature.

 

[a little chiken]

we are going to buy live mealworms to grow and feed. what other insects? I give them worms and grasshoppers when we have them.

 

[a little chiken]

I was thinking of doing something similar to your playground. I also found a chicken swing on amazon, has anyone used a chicken swing? I found some straw balls for parrots and was thinking about using some of those too. we have a treat ball but they get it open very quickly. I love to sit and watch them when i add veggies and they chase each other. I also saw a dirt bath someone made with sand soft dirt and ash and DE. I have contemplated that as my girls LOVE to take their dirt baths. any other ideas are very appreciated.

 

[azygous]

My flock enjoy their seed bottles more than any of the things they have in their pen. I drill quarter-inch holes in Gatoraid bottles, fill with scratch grain and BOSS, and toss them into the pen. The chickens scratch at them, roll them around, and peck at the seeds as they fall out. They never get tired of the bottles until every last seed is extracted.

As a variation, if you have a large supply of meal worms, you can put them into the bottles. I haven't tried it since my supply is limited, but I can imagine the interest that would engender!

 

[HWittridge]

Not weird, I look for things to keep my chickens entertained too. I also have to keep mine in a coop as we live in a nature reserve and there are too many genets, mongoose and caracal around to let them free range.

It is autumn in these parts so this weekend I raked up about 3 large black bags of leaves and made a HUGE pile of leaves in the coop.
The chickens loved it, It kept them busy for hours.

Meal worms are a favourite with my hens, and vegetable peels too.

Will definitely be trying the bottle trick. I heard corn on the cob is also a winner.

 

[a little chiken]

Not weird, I look for things to keep my chickens entertained too. I also have to keep mine in a coop as we live in a nature reserve and there are too many genets, mongoose and caracal around to let them free range.

It is autumn in these parts so this weekend I raked up about 3 large black bags of leaves and made a HUGE pile of leaves in the coop.
The chickens loved it, It kept them busy for hours.

Meal worms are a favourite with my hens, and vegetable peels too.

Will definitely be trying the bottle trick. I heard corn on the cob is also a winner.

Yes mine LOVE LOVE LOVE corn on the cob. I also found a site to tie up a head of lettuce with hemp string and let it hang. I am going to try that tomorrow. I have a old set of monkey bars that I got for free and I am going to sink them in the ground part way so they can play on those. We have also decided on an angled ladder roost for our coop remodel. We cut down some limbs from our greesewood and mesquite tree and put them in the girls pens to munch on the flowers and leaves. They love it.

wow Africa? I am always so interested in other countries.

 

[BaileyBoy]

joining this thread'

 

[a little chiken]

joining this thread'

Thanks for joining. I love to provide my animals with entertainment and stimulation. I know I would get bored if I did nothing but scratched at the ground and ate and drank all day. I will post pictures as I come up with more ideas on entertainment for my feathered friends.