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

[gilcamp4]

I haven't done this, yet, as I don't like cabbage and don't know if my chickens will. They definitely didn't go for lettuce. lol! Anyway, I saw a post, somewhere, of how one person drills a hole through the cabbage head and puts a rope through it- as I recall. I can't remember all the details. At the right side of the forum, you will see pictures: "Recent images in this thread". Just click on "view all". I am sure you will find what you are looking for. I'd look for it for you, but I am falling too far behind on my research for fodder.

i do hang mine with yarn from the fence, squash they love, i just took a knife and cut a hole in the top of squash then pushed the yarn into it and tie to the fence

 

[ShelbyCoral]

String up some apples! My girls love apples, so i took 20 apples and hung them from the ceiling. They were gone in 8 days and loved every bit of it! They were going to bed tired... took allot of their energy.

 

[MaPa26]

i do hang mine with yarn from the fence, squash they love, i just took a knife and cut a hole in the top of squash then pushed the yarn into it and tie to the fence
That sounds good. Just as long as I can manage to hang them without a lot of slack and dangling out in the open, I will try that. I would rather have their fruit/veg hang like you did, tying to the fence. In my situation it would be the side of the pen. I want to avoid having something dangling out in the open area of the pen or laying on the ground. I like the idea that some have suggested of using a wire basket (the ones made for seed and suet cakes, for birds).

Quote:
Originally Posted by ShelbyCoral

String up some apples! My girls love apples, so i took 20 apples and hung them from the ceiling. They were gone in 8 days and loved every bit of it! They were going to bed tired... took allot of their energy.

I will keep trying different fruits and veggies. I bought a pomegranate just for them. Getting ready to cut it in half and take it out. I will be wearing rubber gloves! I know how the juices will turn everything red! I wonder what their beaks will look like! I've tried apples. They turned their beaks up at them. Some things that they are supposed to like, they haven't (cantaloupe, watermelon, corn on the cob). But they sure love peas and tomatoes!

 

[BunnyLover44]

Quote:
By MaPa26

I will keep trying different fruits and veggies. I bought a pomegranate just for them. Getting ready to cut it in half and take it out. I will be wearing rubber gloves! I know how the juices will turn everything red! I wonder what their beaks will look like!




ohh keep us posted!

 

[gilcamp4]

we rode up to food store and went in back to dump, got cut up watermelon and lots of greens, gave watermelon and before I gave them the greens they were going nuts, running around with melen.

 

[Chickencame1st]

Our local chain grocery store has begun to allow me to take their produce discarded culls and compost items--yesterday was the best yet!
I just throw out onions, corn husks, citrus and you have to be very careful with rubber bands, twist ties and other packaging,

We also just found a Golf ball basket at the Salvation Army Thrift Store that is perfect as a holder for leafy greens. The total cost on the basket suspended from the covered portion of the coop--$2.

Happy Chickens.

Some previous days--I spread out over a few days and about 30 chickens certainly devour the stuff! Not much they do not eat--except for carrots--too hard so if there are a lot of them I steam them in the microwave to soften them up--same for sweet potatoes.

 

[chicknmania]

I have read that onions can be toxic to chickens, and I believe I also read somewhere that citrus is not great for them either.
But leafy greens, other fruits and veggies, are wonderful. I'm sure they're enjoying them. Oh, also, no white potatoes! Absolutely
very toxic.

 

[granthamkk]

Our local chain grocery store has begun to allow me to take their produce discarded culls and compost items--yesterday was the best yet!
I just throw out onions, corn husks, citrus and you have to be very careful with rubber bands, twist ties and other packaging,

We also just found a Golf ball basket at the Salvation Army Thrift Store that is perfect as a holder for leafy greens. The total cost on the basket suspended from the covered portion of the coop--$2.

Happy Chickens.

Some previous days--I spread out over a few days and about 30 chickens certainly devour the stuff! Not much they do not eat--except for carrots--too hard so if there are a lot of them I steam them in the microwave to soften them up--same for sweet potatoes.

Amazing find! I'll now be going to goodwill and other resale shops looking for things to hang my veggies in! Do you know which types of stores are more likely to say yes? My son works at Kroger and I've considered asking them for any culled fruit and veggies for the compost/chickens as well.

 

[Chickencame1st]

Thanks. Thrift store can provide great resources to re purpose. Well this local regional chain prides in local community support. So it really all depends on the store managers and corporate policy. Good luck.

 

[bucky52]

I won't let my girls free range.unless my DH and i stay on hawk patrol with them.so we have constructed a large run.half the run is sheltered from rain and wind.the other half has wire on the top to protect them from predators.two weeks ago we had some very cold temperatures.their was no straw to be found.we purchased bales of hay.i took flakes of hay and put it threw out their sheltered runs.those girls had a scratching fun time looking for seed that had fallen out of the hay.I also took scratch feed and toss it in the hay.keeps them busy and good exercise for them..and also keeps them warm.treats are meal worms and alfalfa sprouts and cabbage.the other evening I let them out within ten minutes they went back into their run.and started searching and scratching in the hay for seeds and scratch.