Mental stimulation for chickens???

[Yukonchick]

Everybody wants their meat chickens and laying hens to be physically tip top in their health, but I wonder if chickens benefit from some sort of mental stimulation when they are confined to their boring chicken house. I think happy creatures are probaby healthier creatures. Mine are only 2 weeks old and its still too cold up here to let them outside. I'm wondering if I should throw some colorful curiosities in their pen for them. Anybody got any input on this idea???

 

[linguafranka]

i wonder this too. i guess no one else thinks it is a big deal. maybe they really dont need it?

 

[moomoodiddy]

ive always wondered this too i always give my chickens clumps of grass to go throw talk to them and pet them. one time i even put a strange object in thier pen to explore... silkies arent very good around strange new objects

 

[centrarchid]

I strive to provide my birds some mental stimulation. Some always involves some sort of challenge to get at food. Different types of food also helps. Some of my tamer birds have been trained to come to call and to go to certain locations for food.

 

[Yukonchick]

Well they're so curious about things so maybe its good to give them unusual things to investigate.

 

[Lollipop]

At such a young age, mental stimulation is hardly needed. At about a month, if you still think they need stimulation, put a low perch in there. They won't sleep on it, but they will play on it. Older birds do well with a food challenge, like centrarchid said. Somewhere on here there is a thread about hanging cabbage for them to entertain themselves while they get some good greens. Perfect!, but not at 2 weeks.........Pop

 

[Roark]

Try an old bathroom mirror. Mine use it to talk to themselves all the time. I kind of empathize.

My wife also made some seed and dried fruit cakes that I hand on a loose coil spring from the ceiling of their chicken tractor to drive'em crazy. It's free hanging and swinging and bobs up and down after each peck, so they have to aim at a moving target. Makes the treats last a little longer 'cuz they have to work for it instead of the stationary blocks, where they would literally just stand over them and practically peck til it was gone.

 

[moomoodiddy]

At such a young age, mental stimulation is hardly needed. At about a month, if you still think they need stimulation, put a low perch in there. They won't sleep on it, but they will play on it. Older birds do well with a food challenge, like centrarchid said. Somewhere on here there is a thread about hanging cabbage for them to entertain themselves while they get some good greens. Perfect!, but not at 2 weeks.........Pop

hey is ur avatar the cover off of that albino animal book

 

[Yukonchick]

Ya they do have a couple of mini perches i put together for them. They use that

 

[linguafranka]

Mine also spend lots of time figuring out how to get out of my pen