Official BYC Poll: How Do You Keep Your Chickens Happy?

[BanaB]

I sing to mine, too. At bedtime. They seem to like it. I talk to them, and they talk back.

 

[kcan2]

And they love the swing we put in the run.

Would you mind posting a pic of your swing? My chickens seem very happy with keeping track of the "other chickens" in their mirrors, but adding a swing may be in their future!

 

[BDutch]

You can easily make a chicken swing with a branche and some rope if the run has a roof or a cage-like construction.
I didn’t use one branche but a few thin branches tied together and made a extra rope to the ground to prevent a large swing. Mine only like it if the branches go a little out of balance.

 

[Araucana Nest]

First: I try to set up the conditions where they can be chickens and do chicken things. Foraging, digging, dustbathing, sunbathing, working out their flock dynamics, etc. I try to give them options -- to go in or out in whatever weather they find suitable, to dustbathe in the moist, shady section in the composted pine straw or the dry, sandy section under the pallet-on-blocks, to perch in the shade or perch in the sun. And so on.
.... I try to keep in mind that chickens know how to be chickens better than I know how to be a chicken.

This was the "other" answer that I had in mind too. I try to let them have the space and resources to let them be chickens. My mother is totally disgusted that the chickens like to scratch in the horse poop. There are bugs in there. It also helps keep the horse paddock clean without my manual labor. They keep the fly population down. I see them as valuable contributors here. Some things contribute to their happiness though they probably don't understand it that way. They are kept safe in a free-ranging environment for instance. I don't buy treats (since they can find these on their own and I share veggie scraps). Instead I learn about feeds and buy the best available, ensuring they get optimum nutrition because good health can be a cause for happiness.

 

[3KillerBs]

This was the "other" answer that I had in mind too. I try to let them have the space and resources to let them be chickens. My mother is totally disgusted that the chickens like to scratch in the horse poop. There are bugs in there. It also helps keep the horse paddock clean without my manual labor. They keep the fly population down. I see them as valuable contributors here. Some things contribute to their happiness though they probably don't understand it that way. They are kept safe in a free-ranging environment for instance. I don't buy treats (since they can find these on their own and I share veggie scraps). Instead I learn about feeds and buy the best available, ensuring they get optimum nutrition because good health can be a cause for happiness.

*nods*

I chose the higher-protien layer pellets because I give them food scraps regularly.

I also made a point of choosing breeds known to do well in my climate since chickens who can't cope with heat and humidity would not be happy here (Brahmas being weirdly well-adapted to either heat or cold -- I guess the same thick feathering insulated against either).

 

[Egg Snatcher]

I let mine free range some times. In their dog/coop I have high roost for them to fly on, and some times they get special treats.

 

[drinkoj]

Other:

I don't eat them. That makes them happy.

Honestly, talk to them through the Wyze camera when I'm at work.

 

[CaroChickenMom]

Today I brought all the dry leaves that are falling in the front of the house to the backyard and they looooved the leaves pile and played with it all day long

 

[Kiki]

I keep my birds happy by keeping them healthy....with a complete balanced diet with no junk food.

 

[HaappyHenhouse]

I start each day singing to them, "good morning my lovelies, how are you this morning?" Then i give them breakfast, scratch and fresh weeds. Later in the day they go out in the "playpen" to eat clover. (Small chicken tractor) acv in their water bowls and ice on hotter days.