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chickens

Chicken Enrichment

Timothy Norton

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posted 1 year ago

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Good Afternoon Permies!

I was tending to my chooks and started to wonder what their day must consist of. They have a fully enclosed run to scratch and peck away inside but... there has to be more right?

What does everyone do to keep their chicken's engaged?

I currently have a large apple tree branch that I have dragged inside for both perching on and pecking at. Two metal trash cans that store food and betting have also inadvertently become perching spots.

They get all sort of veg scraps along with anything else that might be gobbled up by a chicken but that is about it.

Any thoughts?

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Megan Palmer

gardener

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Location: Zone 9A, 45S 168E, 329m Queenstown, NZ

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posted 1 year ago

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Hello Tim, take a look at Jen's chicken run in this thread https://permies.com/t/163565/Entertaining-Chickens

Timothy Norton

Steward of piddlers

Posts: 6087

Location: Upstate NY, Zone 5, 43 inch Avg. Rainfall

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Megan Palmer wrote:Hello Tim, take a look at Jen's chicken run in this thread https://permies.com/t/163565/Entertaining-Chickens

Thank you for the thread suggestion, I have not seen that one. Plenty of goodies in it. I appreciate it.

Timothy Norton

Steward of piddlers

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Location: Upstate NY, Zone 5, 43 inch Avg. Rainfall

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I have learned that leftover pasta noodles hung above chicken's heads leads to some fun hilarity.

Chickens will hop for pasta. 10/10

Anne Miller

steward

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posted 1 year ago

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When we had chicken I found that they were delighted to get handfuls of grass or kitchen scraps.

This gave them hours of fun.

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

John Weiland

pollinator

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Location: RRV of da Nort, USA

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posted 1 year ago

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Timothy Norton wrote:What does everyone do to keep their chicken's engaged?

I will assume this is open to all chicken keepers, not just those that are penned...?. Ours are completely free range except when enclosed at night. Mid-winter is the hard period as they stay inside out of the cold (northern Minnesota) day and night, only to venture out just to remind themselves where it is better to be. But for 3 seasons, they are out all day,.....which comes with some risks. Guard dogs keep them relatively safe from predators as long as the chickens stay within the fence perimeter that keeps the dogs in. I say 'relatively', because there is always the occasional hawk or owl event that takes out a young one or hen. Also, with a sizable flock of well over 50 birds, they form sub-groups, some of which wander beyond the perimeter fence during the day. Those are the real risk-takers, but we've lost surprisingly little from this behavior. It could be that coyotes are at an all time high just now and tend to hunt more in our area at night when the chooks are locked up. We used to lose more when foxes seemed more plentiful. They would hunt at all hours, but they tend to drop in number with larger coyote populations. At any rate, no problem in this scenario with chicken engagement.

“The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile universe.”― Albert Einstein

Timothy Norton

Steward of piddlers

Posts: 6087

Location: Upstate NY, Zone 5, 43 inch Avg. Rainfall

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posted 1 year ago

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Maybe I can create a jumping interactive feeder. I can't get over how funny their hop is.

Megan Palmer

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Location: Zone 9A, 45S 168E, 329m Queenstown, NZ

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Just be careful when giving your chickens cut grass that they aren't too long, they can be greedy and eat too much causing an impacted crop.

When chickens eat grass that is growing, they usually just peck a small section at a time.

I tie bunches of leafy greens, spinach, kale, brassica leaves, bunches of grapes, sunflower heads, corn cobs etc for our girls to peck at.

I am an over protective chicken mum that indulges our chooks as you may have gathered!

Kristine Keeney

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Location: South-southeast Texas, technically the "Golden Crescent", zone 9a

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Lately, my flock has been enjoying the stuff I'm cleaning out of the fridges. They have a fondness for cabbage and carrots. They are not best pleased with the over-soft pumpkin. They appreciate old soft apples and the odd bits of veggies.

Over the years I've learned that my chickens are very food-driven, but they are spoiled and well-fed. To get them to notice something means that something has hit their brain at just the right angle to make happy chicken noises - it's of a particular taste cross-section I haven't quite figured out - but it tends to be better than what the other chickens might have.

Otherwise, I've heard that chicken toys work well. Mine tend to climb trees, play King of the Hill, or follow me around. They get their share of odd plant bits from their foraging and me tossing weeds into the yard for them to compost down.

There is nothing so bad that politics cannot make it worse. - Thomas Sowell
Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom. - Albert Einstein

Cat Knight

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I know a lady who gave hers a kid's xylophone toy. There is now a product for sale that is basically the same thing. Here is video of some hens composing. I watch things like this for a long time :)

There is madness to my method.
"Life finds a way"- Ian Malcolm
"We're all mad here" - The Cheshire Cat

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Cat Knight

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Apparently emus will make music if given the right tools too...

There is madness to my method.
"Life finds a way"- Ian Malcolm
"We're all mad here" - The Cheshire Cat

Kristine Keeney

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Location: South-southeast Texas, technically the "Golden Crescent", zone 9a

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I love how different birds will try to create different sounds using other things to help them. The emu are hilarious!

I had a rooster who would position himself 'just so' so that his crow was echoing off the house. It took him about a week of experimenting to get the position just right.

I have a hen who has learned that she can tap on the different structures in the backyard in different places and get different sounds. She doesn't seem to be doing it for any reason other than making noise, so I'm watching, and listening, to see what happens.

I have played one one of my ocarina for the geese. I figured it was good for breath control and PT for me, and wanted to see what they thought about it. They honked at me for a bit, then settled down nearby. I still don't know if they had an opinion or were just trying to show some sort of goose solidarity for my tuneless honking. I haven't tried since, so it might be something to experiment with.

I haven't gotten a drum head, xylophone, or other noisemaker for the flock, yet. I'll put it on the list of things to watch for when thrifting, but it's not high on my priorities.

There is nothing so bad that politics cannot make it worse. - Thomas Sowell
Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom. - Albert Einstein

Timothy Norton

Steward of piddlers

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Location: Upstate NY, Zone 5, 43 inch Avg. Rainfall

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posted 4 months ago

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Do folks have an opinion on mirrors in the run for chickens?

I think it might be fun, as long as they don't stress themselves out thinking its another chicken coming to cause trouble!

Kristine Keeney

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Location: South-southeast Texas, technically the "Golden Crescent", zone 9a

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posted 3 months ago

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I've given my current brooder chicks a bell for every 12 chicks. They're having fun pecking at the shiny thing and making noise with the bells. I have watched them run past it with wings spread to make it ring, and stand still and peck at it, catching it again before it falls back into place. They have some kind of game going on, but it's fun to listen to the bells ring.

I haven't tried a mirror. None of my birds have ever reacted (that I remember) to their reflection, so I'm not sure if a mirror would bother or stimulate them at all. I know they like making noise and can be pretty methodical about it.

There is nothing so bad that politics cannot make it worse. - Thomas Sowell
Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom. - Albert Einstein

Trace Oswald

pollinator

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posted 3 months ago

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I try to mow a section of my food forest or lawn every other day or so. My rider has a grass catcher, so I fill up the bags and dump them into the run. The chickens will dig around in it for hours, and at the same time make compost for me.

Chicken swings are a hit too with some birds. You can use an actual swing, or just rig one up for them. Make the "seat" out of a 2x4 or something round like a stair rail.

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