My chickens are board. Does anyone have ideas on how to make them happier?

[kladfjklj]

My chickens have recently moved. They were free range and they were happy. But now they have to be in a fenced in area. Hey have already eaten all the grass and are now just sitting around. Any ideas on how to make them happy again when keeping them in the fence?

 

[AV8RChick]

I give mine bails of hay to pick through and spread around. I just cut the string. They seem to like it. Also, I put apples or a head of cabbage on a string with a nail tied to it so they can peck at it. It is also entertaining to watch them. Additionally, I put bug infested logs in on occasion for them to pick through.

 

[kladfjklj]

Those are some awesome ideas. Thanks!

 

[mtbrenon]

I love the bugs in the log idea! I put a cat tower and a mirror in the run. My hens all take turns in front of the mirror and love perching on the different levels of the tower. I also put ice, frozen fruit and frozen yogurt in an enamel pan twice a day. They spend quite a bit of time pecking at it and eating all their goodies. Hope this helps.

 

[dancingqueen]

I have the same problem. My bird went from ranging to being in the run all day and they are going crazy! I put a dust bath pool and a pool of water in the run. I also added a mirror and some roosts but they are still pretty upset with me

 

[ChaoSS]

How big is the run? The hay is a good idea, if it's available near you I'd go for alfalfa. plenty of good hay for them to kick around, for bugs to hide in, etc, and plenty of good eating with the alfalfa leaves. If you have theroom some people put down a piece of plywood, move it once a week or so after the bugs have come up under it. Make sure to wet the ground under it first. Maybe some wet newspaper under it would not go amiss. More pieces of plywood as needed and as space allows.

Some people use a swing for their chickens. Hang a 2x4 or something for them to perch on and swing, some chickens love it. If there is Ron I'd expand on the whole cat scratching post thing and give them a whole"playground" jungle gym thing to play on.

 

[tridentk9]

Make a toy like this. Treats inside. I do something similar with raisins and dried cranberries though right now it's just on the ground. I'd need two, one for chickens and one for dogs The ladies come running when they hear me rattle a water bottle.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10203350977628488&id=1032474638

 

[LindaB220]

How big is the run? The hay is a good idea, if it's available near you I'd go for alfalfa. plenty of good hay for them to kick around, for bugs to hide in, etc, and plenty of good eating with the alfalfa leaves. If you have theroom some people put down a piece of plywood, move it once a week or so after the bugs have come up under it. Make sure to wet the ground under it first. Maybe some wet newspaper under it would not go amiss. More pieces of plywood as needed and as space allows.

Some people use a swing for their chickens. Hang a 2x4 or something for them to perch on and swing, some chickens love it. If there is Ron I'd expand on the whole cat scratching post thing and give them a whole"playground" jungle gym thing to play on.

Also, some people put slivers of carrot under the boards. Get lots of critters.

 

[Kazfam]

Grass clippings are fun too and they contain and draw critters.

We also find adding lots of roosts outside the coop helps too. We put ours between trees (wedged) and across/through the corners of the fence (think making a triangle with the roost and the fence corner) - at various heights off the ground. They absolutely love sitting on the roosts - especially Big Hoss, the rooster.

We use large branches for the roosts.