Playing with your chickens

[wannabchick]

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X2
Xoxo

 

[wbruder17]

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Ooh! That's one I haven't thought of! Great idea. I will try it if the rain ever stops. I don't like moldy hay.

 

[GarlicEater]

My 16 birds are in an 8X16 coop/run so they have an OK amount of room. They seem to keep pretty busy doing various "chicken activities" like scratching, basking in the sun, doing stuff with each other from just hanging out, some chasing etc. (Got a couple of grown roosters in there and a couple more coming up.) They also get to watch me do stuff, I'm always moving stuff around, doing stuff, so I'm sure I'm pretty entertaining. Then they get veggies, and random treats at random times. I have a lot of walnuts I've gathered and those are good, they have to peck 'em a bit to break 'em down, I keep an oatmeal can of shelled ones and they get a handful or two of those.

Cabbage (or other veggie) tetherball sounds like a great idea.

 

[RainbowBirds_of_a_Feather]

Aloha,

Some times when I have my birds in confinement, I throw a couple of handfuls of whole corn to get them to scramble around. Kinda like Hungry Hippo! LOL! But using chickens and corn..... You know how they provide enrichment items for captive zoo animals, you can provide it for chickens too for long periods of being in their coop. Some people like to put leaves, grass clippings, table scraps, even adding dirt and other things. This allows them to do natural behavior in a captive/cooped up situation. Seeing that scratching/foraging, dust bathing, chasing other hens for food, and other chicken behavior are what they do naturally; can also be done in a captive situation. Leaves with scratch and or even hay with some tasty treat can activate that kind of behavior. Centipedes are often the winner , aswell as roaches and worms can cause an affect of hunting and keep away. I like doing all these kinds of activities with them when i have the time. Using table scraps also have that affect. I like to get cooked rice and make little rice balls and throw it into the cage to watch the hens chase after one another to get it. Bread has the same effect and I like to dangle it above them so they are forced to use their wings and jumping ability to get them to jump and flap. It is so funny to watch! i have trained a couple hens to fly on my arm for some treats. (Just remember that banties are better fot his because large hens are much more heavy

)

Hope this helps..........

 

[RainbowBirds_of_a_Feather]

Aloha,

Some times when I have my birds in confinement, I throw a couple of handfuls of whole corn to get them to scramble around. Kinda like Hungry Hippo! LOL! But using chickens and corn..... You know how they provide enrichment items for captive zoo animals, you can provide it for chickens too for long periods of being in their coop. Some people like to put leaves, grass clippings, table scraps, even adding dirt and other things. This allows them to do natural behavior in a captive/cooped up situation. Seeing that scratching/foraging, dust bathing, chasing other hens for food, and other chicken behavior are what they do naturally; can also be done in a captive situation. Leaves with scratch and or even hay with some tasty treat can activate that kind of behavior. Centipedes are often the winner , aswell as roaches and worms can cause an affect of hunting and keep away. I like doing all these kinds of activities with them when i have the time. Using table scraps also have that affect. I like to get cooked rice and make little rice balls and throw it into the cage to watch the hens chase after one another to get it. Bread has the same effect and I like to dangle it above them so they are forced to use their wings and jumping ability to get them to jump and flap. It is so funny to watch! i have trained a couple hens to fly on my arm for some treats. (Just remember that banties are better fot his because large hens are much more heavy

)

Hope this helps..........

 

[MedfordChick]

Thank you for all of your replies and ideas, I am looking forward to trying these out with the girls!

It sounds like food is a good source of entertainment for chickens. And GarlicEater, I had no idea that chickens ate nuts. Do you think they'd like peanuts in the shell?

I go into their coop and just sit with them sometimes and hold my arm out. They always jump up on my arm and sit there (I'm sure I look funny sitting there with 3 chickens on my arm

). And my husband sits in there and spends "quality time" with the girls too. So, I'm getting the impression that just being around them and talking to them makes them happy too.

I know that they miss taking baths in the dirt since the ground's frozen right now, so we should definately make them something like ChickensAreSweet suggested for them to bathe in. We have some play sand, I wonder if that would work okay? I also have some dust bath leftover from when I had gerbils, but I don't know if that is suitable for chickens. Once I get the bath figured out, I'm sure they'll enjoy using it after a nice game of Cabbage tetherball

 

[featherbaby]

I LOVE THESE IDEAS!!!! Keep 'em coming! I put perches in the coop and move them around periodically to keep them stimulated. I also found a wire corn cob holder at Home Depot in the wild bird/feed section. I put a fresh raw ear of corn and hang it from a chain. They play with it and are so entertaining. I haven't tried cabbage tetherball yet. They're just little bantam silkies, I think a huge cabbage head would scare the bejeepers out of them.

 

[MedfordChick]

I found some more ideas searching online:

•Mirrors can keep the chickens occupied for a time, though be cautious that they won't attack it hard enough to break it

•A Sunflower hung in the coop makes for great fun

•Some parrot toys can be fun for our bigger feathered friends

•Insects, bugs, etc such as worms and crickets released in the coop may scatter everywhere, leading to tons of chasing fun

•Old CDs cast interesting patterns upon the ground when the sun reflects off of them and they move in the wind. This leads to lots of reflection chasing fun

•Sprays of millet hung about the coop are fun for jumping and grabbing, and then chasing if they manage to get a spray loose

•A rotten wood log, stuffed with whatever you have available makes a fun toy that will keep your chickens occupied for hours

•A pile of fallen leaves full of bugs and other chicken yummies makes a fun thing for them to play around in

•Taking a handful of weeds that are safe for the chickens to eat and tying it up for them to jump at is really fun for them as well as tossing handfuls over the fence

•A suet cage stuffed with whatever treats are handy makes a nice little chicken piñata

•Plastic Easter Eggs with holes poked in them and filled with seed are fun for the chickens to roll around so that the seed falls out and they can eat it

•Cricket tubes, tubes designed to allow out only one cricket at a time will give the chickens tons of fun as they wait for each of the yummy creatures to venture forth

•A sturdy container such as a plastic tub or coffee can with holes poked in it and filled with seeds makes a fun toy for the chickens to roll all around and eat up anything that falls out

 

[gryeyes]

Tether Cabbage is a huge hit at my place.

 

[QuinnP]

I'm sillier than you---I sleep with my rooster, hand feed him, sing to him, rock him to sleep, & generally adore his feathered fanny. I take him for walks in his basket, took him to Safeway once. He watches the Rachel Maddow Show with us, & is talked to like a person.