Toys and enrichment?

[KimbosKluckers]

Wow so many fabulous ideas!! Thank you all so much! I threw a big pile of Timothy hay for them, they love tearing that up. I hung a bell pepper from a string which the pulled off and devoured in a few hours. Their new hobby is grooming the pig! Ha. They’re so fun now that they’re getting personalities. Thanks again.

 

[TinyRaptorDodos]

Mine like mirrors and sprouts! And hanging beads. Their favorite was a 2$ bird toy. Shaped like a star with a little bell hanging inside

 

[SuperC]

Well, my chicks are only 8 weeks, but they have liked mirrors and some parrot toys that I hang from the brooder cover. The toys I have are sort of chandler style where it has large beads and silver bells and the other one has colored blocks of wood and a bell at the bottom. They love to peck and them and make the bells ring. Some like to sit under it and put there head in the bell like a hat

They also get to run around our kitchen tile floor each day, and we have a few ping pong balls that I marked on. I used orange and black sharpies and added little specks/dots on them and the chicks peck at the ping pong and it makes it roll away a bit. At first they didn’t know what to think, but then they understood and started pecking at it and sort of chasing it as it rolled around. The game only lasts a few seconds before they run of for something else, but someone else comes up and starts to roll it around so it’s at least interesting to them.

 

[Carlyb22]

My girls favorite things are frozen melons. Cantaloupe, watermelon etc. give them something to do and they get a snack. Toys have been ignored by mine. You can also fill up a container of water and put some frozen berries in and have them fish for them. I’ve also flipped up rocks for my girls while they free range and they go crazy eating the bugs. You could collect those and throw them in their run and let them hunt!

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

I have seen where people have tried xylophones and such. Ignored by the chickens. Better results seem to come from natural enrichments - perches, hay to scratch at, etc.

Dried leaves are a HUGE hit. Also, if you can get some sod from around your yard, toss that in!

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

Well, my chicks are only 8 weeks, but they have liked mirrors and some parrot toys that I hang from the brooder cover. The toys I have are sort of chandler style where it has large beads and silver bells and the other one has colored blocks of wood and a bell at the bottom. They love to peck and them and make the bells ring. Some like to sit under it and put there head in the bell like a hat

They also get to run around our kitchen tile floor each day, and we have a few ping pong balls that I marked on. I used orange and black sharpies and added little specks/dots on them and the chicks peck at the ping pong and it makes it roll away a bit. At first they didn’t know what to think, but then they understood and started pecking at it and sort of chasing it as it rolled around. The game only lasts a few seconds before they run of for something else, but someone else comes up and starts to roll it around so it’s at least interesting to them.

Kitchen floors are way too slippery for my hens, i get nervous someone may hurt a leg,

 

[ElfenLied89]

Red cabbage also turns their droppings a weird blue XD

*goes to buy red cabbage* at least my yard will have color!

 

[Coffetym]

Old flower pots and garden pots filled with dirt do it for my ladies. Sprinkle in some scratch/worms now and then and they love “foraging” in them. Also like to dirt bathe in them. Pallets are a good jungle gym item and easy to come by. During winter I sprout lentils in big containers and sprinkle blueberries or BSFL in them.

Most of mine are horrified at cabbage and apples hanging from a chain. I’ve tried leaving it for days and no one will touch it and avoid it at all costs.

Try hand feeding them pieces first. One you can get them hooked, they will almost attack when you come to hang it.

 

[PamMahtin]

Mine like hanging treats like the cabbage and just about anything they can eat. I have a large nail that I used steel stick putty and attached it to a chain and have a hook in the run for it. I also use the hook for other treats that can't go on the nail ( it is like a 6 inch nail) and put them into one of the little bird feeder cages for the seed cakes. They also like wiffle balls that I will stuff with treat, it takes a little bit of time to fill them but watching them roll it around it worth it.

 

[Sammster]

My girls' favorites are a large tree root that DH pulled out at camp and brought home for them. He put it in their run upside-down, so it's like a little tree. They climb on it or under it. They also like an old truck tire I have half-way buried, vertically. Run through - jump on.