Ok here's my next Question!

[BrazellDazell]

I worry that my chicks are bored! Is there anything I should do or put in there brooder to entertain them, or is this even necessary?

 

[teach1rusl]

Chicks in a brooder - small perches, rocks to climb up on, even a stuffed animal to huddle with are all things I've used.
Chickens in a run - roosts (2x4s or thick branches), stumps, I've even used an old wooden step ladder to give them places to go and things to do.

 

[fiddlebanshee]

AT what age can you add perches to a brooder? I read somewhere if you do that too young it may deform their feet? Is this true? I have a 1/2 inch square piece of wood that I would like to add but haven't so far because of this.

I'm ready to put some more play things in there for them, besides the three stuffed animals that are already there. Rocks is a great idea, I'll find some smaller ones that will do.

 

[lvchicken]

TREATS!!!!!

 

[CrestedGirl]

Quote:
+2 like yogurt

 

[Marcymom3]

When ours were in the brooder I found some of those cat balls with a bell. They are plastic and come in colors. Although I never actually saw them play with it I know they did because it was always in a different place in the brooder when I looked in. They also had a couple of pieces of 1 x 2x 12" that hubs nailed onto some short 2 x 4" pieces....they were about 4" tall. They liked sitting on there. Also had a little mirror leaning against the side. Who knew chicks could be so vain?

We really enjoyed raising the little ones! Our friends thought we were crazy when we put them in our livingroom. LOL We started them out in a rubbermaid bin, then we built a 4 x 4' pen. As soon as it got warm enough and they were about 5 weeks old, we moved the 4 x 4 out to our screened porch. When they were outside, I used to hang pieces of cabbage and lettuce. They played with them and ate it too.

For "REAL" entertainment, we fed them live mealworms and their favorite, crickets. That was really funny!

 

[202roosterlane]

I add stuff the can jump on, (poop on) small, left over chunks on 2x4's and one stuffed teddy bear that takes alot of abuse from those chickies

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[ScottyHOMEy]

Nice that you're woried about boredom but, honestly, they can entertain themselves.

Flipside, though, is that the entertainnment can sometimes include excessive pecking on each other.

First order of business for me is to keep them on crumbles all their lives. simple enough for the short-lived meat birds, just as important in my situation with the layers, who may decide to stay in the coop rather than venturing out into our sometimes deep winter snow in their run..

As chicks in the brooder, I've been known to stick a low roost (a 1x2 tacked to the top of a couple short blocks of 2x4 for them to hop on and off of. Simple, but they find great sport in the exercise. Shiny is always good for distracting their pecking. As chicks, just the simple cat bells, never mind one in a rolling plastic cage, can help if pecking as a problem.

Larger birds, anything slightly above their heads that they can peck at will entertain them. Again shiny is good, though not entirely necessary. Motion seems to serve as well. Aluminum pie tins hung from monofilament fishing line are common. I hang other things from the mono, as well. One is a spiral piece of plastic that would make one think of a piece of flat, twisted taffy, blue and green. They seem as taken with the light flashing and changing as it twists after they peck at it as the do with it swinging as the pie tins do.

Again. They're easily entertained. Much more easly than puppies or kittens. You needn't really do much uless there's an indication that they need to find something other than each other to peck at. Thier other instinct is to scratch, and the occasional batch of crickets or 100-pack of mealworms will stimulate that, as will an occsional (not enough to seriously dilute their feed ration) handful of scratch.

If scratch with chicks, make sure you've offered a good bit of chick grit mixed into their feed for several days before offering them the whole seeds and cracked corn that make up the scratch.

 

[Marcymom3]

Early one morning I leaned into the brooder to get the feeder out to fill. One of the chicks jumped to try to grab at the untied ribbon on my nightgown. I got the idea they'd have fun with some leather shoestrings hung from the hardware cloth I used for a lid.

 

[BrazellDazell]

What GREAT suggestions!!

I find myself spending a lot of time just watching them in their brooder!!! So I guess that's why I want to 'entertain' them. It seems like evrytime I peek in on them they look bigger and they're even getting new feathers already!! AHH Ma Zing!! that's all I can say!