what do you all do to keep your birds from being too bored all winter?what do you feed for treats?

[CGoguen]

I do the same tie up corn on the cob keeps them busy for a while... Just remember to tie it high enough so the choke themself.. Mine had it swinging good.. Kinda funny to watch..

 

[jsmith2952]

I think my girls are carb addicts! They turn up their beaks at anything green (well, not including my hostas!). Won't go near anything cruciferous, and will only eat the occasional cucumber or zucchini, if the mood strikes them. Not sure how to encourage them to eat more like chickens!
I've tried to warm oatmeal/mash, which they love. They also love warm water--they all gather around the little steamy bowl and chat. It's very sweet! I do let them out; I've shovelled a path for them to my deck and then shovelled the deck. They are happy to peck around in flower pots and under my giant evergreen trees where the ground hasn't completely frozen.
I am planning on doing the flock block and will try out a few of the great ideas posted here. It's my first winter with hens and I was wondering: should I be raking all the straw out of the run regularly or can I just turn it over and add new as needed? The run is covered so the straw, for the most part keeps pretty dry. I've also added some DE to the straw (not sure if that makes a difference).
Great thread idea, btw!

 

[petrel]

We try to add entertainment at random intervals throughout the day. One of those plastic balls full of scratch is good for a bit. A suet feeder with beef or venison scraps in it gives them something to put their beaks to. We also give them small chunks of fodder or greenhouse grown millet and clover sprouts with a little organic soil on them so they have something to scratch through.

 

[lin9]

I give them part of a bale of hay and an armload of weeds that I cut and dried in the fall. There are always some seeds in there, I also grow buckwheat and amarath and sunflowers for them. cut the stalks and store in fall. distribute during the winter.
Also, I grow wheat grass from seeds--they love that. They would pull out the grass by the roots if I let them, but I scissor off the greens. The remaining roots grow more grass in a week or less.

I give them bones after making soup and they get some exercise tearing that apart. Plus it saves our plumbing from grease build-up. This is NH, so I think it is OK for them to have animal fats.we buy local lambs

We have had varied success tossing them some of our composting worms.

A new thing we are trying is that, instead of cleaning out the bedding and poops from the coop interior ----out into the snowy compost area, I am stacking in in a corner of their plastic enclosure. If worms and bugs develop in that compost, the chickens can scratch in there.

No edible calories get tossed in a land fill from our house.

 

[chickie farmer]

I didn't last year and my roosters comb started getting black spots on it. so this year I put in a red heat lamp to warm it up. It's 38 in there now. I'll leave it on just for tonight too. It's going to be 3 degrees. It'll be in the teens tomorrow. I will only use the heat when it gets around 15 or below. The rooster won't come out of it's insulated coop.
when it's below 20.

 

[ashcons]

I would like to try making a flock block. Does anybody have a recipe for that?

Something like this?

http://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2013/10/diy-flock-block.html

I never know what to expect out of our hens (we only have 3 atm). I've given them snacks that other people say their birds loved only to watch them run off in fear of the nightmarish new thing which I have just introduced into their world for the sole purpose of both their physical and metaphysical destruction.

They like all the bulk seeds I toss around for them and have been fine as far as I've observed in the cold snap we have had the past few days with temperatures down in the teens. The cold has not dampened their enthusiasm for scratching. As long as they have a roost to get their feet off the ground and covered by their own feathers, they are robust little creatures.

 

[chrissyr]

Not a whole lot of new ideas to add. My husband built me this fun contraption for cabbage tetherball: http://www.communitychickens.com/2011/05/boredom-buster.html#.UmaZ0FMenNo. They do love it (hated the Halloween pumpkins I gave them though, which chickens are supposed to love, so who knows).

I also have two suet cages that I have attached in separate parts of their run, and most mornings I fill those up with some kind of leafy green, typically whichever green is cheapest at the grocery store that week. They seem to love all lettuces and really like kale or chard, though won't eat the thickest part of the stems. They have also picked all the leaves off my brussels sprout plants in the garden, and when we eat brussels sprouts for dinner, I save them the trimmings.

Love your boredom buster!!

I was going to put a head of lettuce in a netting. But I was told too much lettuce will give diarrhea. Is that true? Anyone have issues with cabbage or lettuce giving diarrhea ?

 

[petrel]

Quote: It certainly gives diarrhea to mine! We now ration lettuce, spinach, and leafy greens very carefully.

 

[cluck cluck 123]

I give my birds treats to scratch around at.

 

[CHICKEN CRAZY1]

I give mine different treats. In the summer they get watermelon,which keeps them hydrated and busy. In the winter they get scratch in the snow. They like to find it. The movement keeps them warm,as well as the oats and sunflower seeds. Of course,they also get table scraps that make their eggs Delicious!