which toys are best for chickens to keep occupied ?

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salt and pepper

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which toys are best for chickens to keep occupied ?
« on: August 11, 2011, 13:13 »
Hi everyone,

Just wondering what you all do to keep chickens occupied whilst in the run to keep them busy all day ? and what toys do you have for them ?

Thank you  :D

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Nicki85

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Re: which toys are best for chickens to keep occupied ?
« Reply #1 on: August 11, 2011, 14:23 »
Hi,
My chooks are in a large run all day and seem to be able to amuse themselves!  They have about 4m^2 each and are on dirt with some big shrubs to dig around.  They come out to fr in the evening when we are back as well.  I do put fresh greens from the lottie in with them in the morning which they seem to enjoy.  They also have some perches which they spend alot of time on preening and the like!

How much room do your chooks have?  I think thats the key to be honest!

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andreadon

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Re: which toys are best for chickens to keep occupied ?
« Reply #2 on: August 11, 2011, 16:23 »
in my old house, we hung CDs up for  them.
they ignored them

we also gave them a ball  ??? :wacko:
they ignored that too.

we gave them old concrete ballustrades, they loved those (standing on them )

and shelves to bound around on and jump on and fly between.
they liked those too.

also, heads of cabbages hung up keep them occupied for hours.

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Lindeggs

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Re: which toys are best for chickens to keep occupied ?
« Reply #3 on: August 12, 2011, 01:01 »
Most things I give tem get ignored - they would rather make their own amusements that play with anything I provide.  ::)

The most popular things I have found so far are:
  • A big pile of leaves (a bale of straw would be just as popular, I'm sure.)
  • Some pine cones - either little soft ones that they can tear apart or big hard ones with treats stuffed in the gaps between the scales)
  • Rotten wood with grubs in it
  • Perches to jump on (mine have an old wooden ladder - just don't put it anywhere they can use it to escape!)

You could also try just scattering their usual food around so they have to work to find it, rather than just picking it out of a feeder.

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Ben_H

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Re: which toys are best for chickens to keep occupied ?
« Reply #4 on: August 12, 2011, 14:49 »
Ours are using windfallen apples as a football. More like the medievil version of the game than premiership I have to say.

I've heard great things about bales of straw as well as rolls of turf though yet to try these myself as a) I'm hoping the grass recovers and b) if it gets covered with straw the grass will take longer to recover.

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hillfooter

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Re: which toys are best for chickens to keep occupied ?
« Reply #5 on: August 12, 2011, 15:10 »
Scrabble  ................eggs
HF
Truth through science.

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Kym503

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Re: which toys are best for chickens to keep occupied ?
« Reply #6 on: August 15, 2011, 21:22 »
I have no idea why I bought it but Pets at Home ssell a plastic yellow'apple' that has holes in the end.  You open it up and put corn in it and the chickens are suppose to 'play' with it ....  well mine freaked out when I put it in their run and only now - 3 weeks later have they finally got use to it.  Unfortunately only Tuffty seems to have worked out she can peck at it to move it and a few pieces of corn escape.  Actually a complete waste of £4.99 as if I left it in the run Tuffty would eat the entire contents on her own.

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New shoot

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Re: which toys are best for chickens to keep occupied ?
« Reply #7 on: August 15, 2011, 21:59 »
OH gave our a couple of balls having seen them in a run in a customer's garden,  Their chickens loved moving them round and playing with them.  Ours were terrified and never got used to them.

They now have a few logs to sit on and play king of the castle and usually some greens/windfall apples/overgrown courgettes to peck at (varies with the seasons)  :)

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hillfooter

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Re: which toys are best for chickens to keep occupied ?
« Reply #8 on: August 16, 2011, 03:56 »
Apples at this time of year.

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Ben_H

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Re: which toys are best for chickens to keep occupied ?
« Reply #9 on: August 16, 2011, 09:59 »
Am waiting on a nice big log arriving on Friday. I've heard the best bit is when you roll the log over and let them at the slugs, earwigs and other goodies.

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andreadon

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Re: which toys are best for chickens to keep occupied ?
« Reply #10 on: August 16, 2011, 12:16 »
ooh, we gave them half a melon.

it took them about 2 hours to kill it and eat it.  :lol:

the next day, they were trying to kill and eat the skin  :blink:

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orionsquare

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Re: which toys are best for chickens to keep occupied ?
« Reply #11 on: August 16, 2011, 23:10 »
I gave mine 2 CDs tied on the end of a raffia cord - they ignored them.

I gave mine an apple cut in quarters, they only pecked at the apple once and ignored it.

They love to play with the hutch door by jumping up to perch on it and then fly down to the ground again.

They are happy to peck at sweet corn, eating up the corn and leaving the core in just one day.

They love the game - see who is strong enough to overturn the water drinker.

They love the game of 'hide the egg and let the human look high and low for it'.

One of them loves the game of jumping and landing on the human's back and shoulder when she comes with the food for all of them.

 8)

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hillfooter

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Re: which toys are best for chickens to keep occupied ?
« Reply #12 on: August 17, 2011, 01:49 »
Mine also ignored the CD too............................I guess didn't like Lady GAGA.

Can't say I can blame them.  But what are your chx doing in a hutch??? They must think they are rabbits :ohmy:
HF

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orionsquare

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Re: which toys are best for chickens to keep occupied ?
« Reply #13 on: August 18, 2011, 23:02 »
Yes, they are living in a large rabbit hutch at the moment while they get better. The hutch opens into 6' x 6' a run. I am told that ex-batts do not know how to use a perch initially so I reckon that they are better off in a hutch for the first few weeks while they are recovering.

I can tell that they are recovering well from the fact that they are starting to be able to fly onto the top of the hutch door and walk on the roof of the hutch. I caught one of them roosting on the door when the others went inside the hutch sleeping area one night. I had to pluck her off the door and put her in with the others!  :lol: she wasn't happy and "cluck cluck cluck" at me!  ::)

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LittleRedHen

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Re: which toys are best for chickens to keep occupied ?
« Reply #14 on: August 19, 2011, 20:54 »
One of my hens hides in the hen house, calling the others.  When they come to see what's going on, she flies out screaming at the top of her lungs and scares them.  Ah bless.   :tongue2:
When I die I will slide in sideways, a glass of wine in one hand and chocolate in the other, screaming, "Whooo hooo!  What a ride!" as life is to be enjoyed to the fullest!



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