Fun Stuff For Baby Chickens

[jdennysgirl]

My RIR chicks are a month old now and in their coop and run. I have 2 of them. (Lost 1 at around 2 weeks old for no apparent reason.) Right now they get the starter feed and about once a day I give them a few bread crumbs or sometimes a few grains of oats. Their run is 8X8X4. I am sure there is plenty of room for just 2 chickens. They go about the day pecking around the run. Sometimes they go inside during the day and roost. I let them freerange when I am outside. They seem to be happy, I think. Not really sure what a happy chicken should be like. LOL It just seems like they would be bored doing the same thing day in and day out in the same place.

I was just wondering if there is anything I can do to give them something to do. Can I get them something with food in it that is hard to get to? That way they have to really work for it??? Just looking for some ideas for some "entertainment" for them.

I do want to be sure my chicks grow up to be mentally stable adults, you know!!!! LOL

 

[Alaskan]

fruit scraps are great. Things like melon rinds. It takes them awhile to pick the rest of the flesh out of the rind.


I read about someone who would put her bags of leaves in the chicken run. When the leaves were all shredded up she would rake them together and put them in the compost pile. Then she would give the chickens a fresh bag of leaves.

You could do the same kind of thing with any type of (non-poisonous) garden vegetation.

 

[IloveTravis]

Toys are good, but if you want to entertain your chicks, I think the best thing is just to let them explore. My chickens are always much sweeter at the end of the day when they've had a chance to free range. Letting your chicks look for worms and chase flies is the best way to keep them busy, in my opinion

 

[Mahonri]

You could make them a little roosting tree in the middle of their run. Something to jump from level to level. I wish I had more room.

 

[Grindlefamily]

bowl of dirt if the run isn't - ??

 

[tiki244]

My chickens like to look in the mirror when they are in the house. I have a 2 foot square mirror on the floor and there are a couple that will sit down in front of the mirror and stare at themselves for a long time.

You could hang some greens in a bag of some sort, from a rope, and let them jump up to get the greens.

I usually pick clover and dandelion greens when they cant be outside of the run and just throw them on the ground.. A couple times I bought them boxes of grasshoppers. Worms are good, but, worms may have worms which would then infect the chickens.

 

[cherrychicken]

im getting some ideas...

 

[jdennysgirl]

Great ideas everyone!! I willl try all of them. It just seems kinda boring just pecking and pecking at the ground all day long! Of course, I'm not a chicken so how would I know! I am finding the chicks don't seem to like too much in the way of snacks. I threw in an ear of sweetcorn this morning in their run and they haven't even touched it! Yesterday I threw in a watermelon rind and they never touched it either. Should I try again as they get older or just move on and keep trying different things? Keep the ideas coming. Thanks again.

 

[Alaskan]

ACK! They didn't like the corn or the watermelon rind?

Silly chickens!

I guess try again in a few days?

 

[goatkeepers]

They didn't touch the watermelon OR the corn??

Are you sure you've got chickens in there?

Mine go CRAZY for the watermelon! Did you give them just the rind or an actual slice? I give mine a slice and they eat all the red meat out of it in just a few minutes!

It's so sweet.

Hijacking really quick, sorry:

How soon is it ok to give them watermelon? I have three 2 day olds. Can they have melon already?