Chicken Entertainment
If your chickens are kept in a run, providing them with things to occupy them is important to prevent negative boredom behaviors like picking. Some ideas are:
String behind hen has a cabbage hanging from it
Mirrors
Roost in brooder
Roosts made of different materials and at different heights
Not exactly what I had in mind…..
An old Christmas tree to rest under
A swing set about 16” off the ground
Various feeders with greens, herbs, vegetables:
Basket for greens or soft vegetables
Cabbage on a string and root veg garland
Alfalfa mash with mixed dehydrated herbs/forbs/flowers
Peanut butter or suet and nut feeders
Fresh herbs hung up
Trays of sprouted grains
Provide soil covering like straw or dry leaves, or a small amount of old hay. (Too much hay and there’s the chance of crop impaction, as they might try to eat it.)
Mix of old hay, garden waste and leaves
Basic leaf covering of pen
Put in piles of leaves and let them spread them, garden waste behind
Start of a year’s worth of leaves
In summer, they need cooling down when temperatures hit the 90’s. Here are some ideas:
Mixed vegs frozen in bowls of water
The frozen remains from stock making, good for our flock of 90 birds
Seed tray wading pool
Frozen fruit in water
Other ideas:
The blueberry waste from cleaning the berries
Protective chicken netting that is moved often
First set-up in March, they love it!
Garden waste
Pumpkins and squash
Dustbath
Dustbath area
And finally:
Credits:
Wire basket: https://www.flickr.com/commons/usage/
Uploaded on March 2, 2015
No known copyright restrictions
Sprouted corn: Free for commercial use
No attribution required
Frozen veg: @Steven Depolo
Swing: @Schnerres CC0 Creative Commons
Frozen fruits: @Danuta Hulajko
Roosts: @CDC/ Eric Grafman acquired from Public Health Image Library (Website)
Chickens playing xylophone: Empty Nest Chickens Band - YouTube
Seed pinecone: @ Bradley West
Pumpkins: @congerdesign CC0 Creative Commons
Xylophone: @richkidsunite
Community Forums
Chickens are silly and funny and....destructive. When I saw the mirror I was
We did the same on the leaves. They have fun scratching and just making a big mess of the leaves. One time when we still had a rooster, he wanted to get to the ladies in the morning. He ran towards one of the ladies and slipped on the leaves and tumbled.
We have lots of garden and kitchen scraps and they enjoy eating them.
On the chicken netting, it looks feasible but I have doubts. Do you have any problems with air predators? We had 2 chickens already lost to a hawk. We have the ladies inside an electrified chicken run and let them out to forage.
We have MAJOR problems with air predators. That's why the netting is set up the way it is. There is no space large enough for a hawk to get in and be able to get out again. they will not go into somewhere they can't get out.
As for the pen, if you look up farther you will see it is covered by what we called a circus tent when we designed it. We have used this design for 10 years with excellent results. It has been approved by the local Raptor Rehab guy as not being dangerous for either wild or domestic birds.
Our birds never free range. I'd not have a flock in a week if they did. We have a very high predator load here.
I don't have chickens (yet) but im resteeming because when I get some, I want a reference guide.
Lol the chicken mirror. Who are you kidding. That's entertainment for you, right? Hehe =p I think I need chickens just to put up a chicken mirror. For my entertainment.
Sounds like chicken paradise and kind of makes me wish I were one of your chickens. ( :
Ha! my chickens will never meet your chickens...
Are you implying my chickens would be subversive??? LOL Probably only Susan, as she's the pet....
lol, Um yep, do not need my chickens revolting or forming unions for equal chicken treatment!
Oh, no wonder my poor chickens are picking at each other!! I need to step up the game BIG TIME! And what's funny is that I have two of those xylophones....thanks so much for posting this compilation!
I bet you have the happiest chickens in the world! lol
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Wow, I am impressed. You have very blessed chickens! Such love coming from you! Kind of like a chicken amusement park! lol I bet they lay well!
Happy Chickens. Happy Eggs.
Man this is awesome. Your chickies have it made :)