Chicken Toys!
I know a lot of people view their chickens as members of the family and love to not only keep them comfortable, but entertain them as well! I've seen some really neat things, like suspending a cabbage with a rope for the chickens to peck at. Do you have any fun ways you like to keep your chickens active and entertained?
Comments
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I am thinking that the chickens may have fun with a pomegranate.
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I have read that some folks hang mangles for them to peck. We put a trap door on our chicken tractors to toss scraps into them they get really excited when we come out with a plate! They run to the spot where the food come in and we generally toss in a little at a time so they can all get some and they will race around and chase each other with it. We do give them freedom in the late afternoons and that helps with the boredom issue, but we have had to start watching very closely as a coyote has discovered them. I am afraid we may have keep them penned up permanently. With the new ones we have designed a chunnel to move along with the tractor and if that works we may try to retro fit one for the older birds, at least that way they will be able to run and get plenty of sunshine.
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@VickiP I hate hearing about the Coyote, but I understand their safety comes first! I was worried about predators as well but it's been so far so good and they get the roam of the yard. I think all the dogs surrounding me has helped with that though.
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Dogs are a great deterrent, and for years we no problems. I can't figure out what has changed, maybe this one has figured out their habits, or is just cagier, I don't know but it is distressing.
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I tried a children's zylophone. It didn't work so great for ducklings. The chicks liked it and our guinea keet played it a little too.
Guinea fowl like mirrors. I am not so sure what chickens think.
I give chicks a little cat toy (plastic ball with jingle bell in the middle). I firmly hang it up with a shoestring. I have also tried yellow/red gift bag strings on their own. They loved those "worms!" I even had some swinging from them with their beaks just like kids on a rope! That was fun! I highly recommend that for chicks. I do this with each hatch.
@Jimerson Is there any way to post videos?
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@Laurie these are some great ideas! I 'm going to try some of these.
To add a video to your comment, click the Embed button below (next to the paperclip attachment icon) and paste your link to the video. I'm going to embed a youtube video below as an example!
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LOL
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Back when I had chicken daycare ( didn't really, I'll explain below) I used to catch japanese beetles, put them in a dish of water, and let the chickens go "bobbing for beetles". They loved it.
These weren't my chickens. I used to have neighbors, several houses down the street, who let their chickens free-range all over the neighborhood. I am all for free ranging if you have the space, but it really wasn't a good idea, considering how close the houses were together, and how busy the road was. I didn't mind them coming into my yard( I think chickens are adorable), but I heard from several neighbors who were upset. They spent the most time in our yard, probably because we weren't mean to them and we have a garden and cats we feed outside. For a couple of months we ignored them, but finally we started giving them treats to keep them from stealing from the cats. (It's a bit disturbing when you take chicken broth and meat scraps outside to give as a treat to your cats, and the chickens steal it from them. Cannibals) It sort of worked. After a while they spent almost the entire day at our house. I'd wake up at 6:30, and they'd be out under their favorite tree. Late in the afternoon they would trot home. The neighbors moved a way last month. I was glad for neighborhood, but I do miss my chicken buddies.
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@blevinandwomba I agree, as neat as chickens free roaming in a neighborhood sounds to me, I can understand why some of the neighbors wouldn't be too impressed by that.
It sounds like it's time you got a little flock of your own? : )
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@blevinandwomba I totally agree with @Jimerson Get yourself some chickens! I would recommend the serama breed if you don't have much space...however, cats WILL eat them. They are a true bantam as there is no large fowl version, the smallest of all chicken breeds. They are personable and are easy keepers. We found that ours had little odor and was pretty "clean." Many people keep them indoors (we have...in an animal cage). They have tiny eggs of course, and come in many non standardized colors. Egg size determines size of chicks & they don't breed true to color of the parents. If my plans come together, I should have a pair again soon. Research them. 😉 I have many chicken favorites, but these will continue to be with me because of their ease if I can no longer have my others.
We had a rooster for a short time. He could poof his chest out & place his head right in the middle (but not past) to make himself heart shaped. 💟 We miss him. Here he is.
@Jimerson Thanks for the instructions. Unfortunately the swinging chick video is on a different SIM card. Bummer.
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@Laurie wow he is/was a handsome man! Did you do the chicken diaper thing when you kept them inside? 😁
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@Jimerson No. We didn't let him roam free. We took him out sometimes to handle him, but I am not the chicken diaper type. I can't imagine that I'll ever be either!
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Well @Jimerson and @Laurie , I would absolutely love a flock of my own, but I live with my parents, and currently they are not in favor. But whenever I get a place of my own...
Laurie, those are beautiful chickens! To be honest, I want to get chickens just like the wandering chicken gang! But after I get those I can get some banties, too. I don't know what breeds they were other than one was probably a Buff Orpington. The rooster was my favorite. I have no clue what he was, just a big, black rooster with a beautiful temperament. He was so sweet and took such good care of his hens.
There's Roger bobbing for beetles.
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@blevinandwomba Your rooster could have been an australorp (may have mangled the spelling), developed in Australia. They are huge, similar to the black jersey giant (developed in the US), which is the largest breed @ 15 lb+ roosters & have yellow bottomed feet. This is one way to tell the difference.
Your one hen looks life a buff orp. And the black & white one looks like it was laced? It is possible that they were all orps of various colors, but I think your roo was australorp.
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Thank you @blevinandwomba for the photos! @Laurie you got that spelling right! Australorp is such a unique and fun to say name.
Now I just have to share a photo I took a couple weeks ago of my kids' and my chickens! That's Golden Snidget (my daughter's), Vesper (mine), and Lance (my son's).
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@Jimerson I so like people who love their critters.
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@Jimerson Nice chickens! If I took pictures of all of mine, you'd be here all day! 😂
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@Laurie, sorry the pictures are so crummy, they were taken on my the-cheapest-Wallyworld-sells phone. The laced one is actually a deep chocolate brown, with turquoise highlights. I was never able to take a good picture of her; the color always distorted, though I do have some much closer up. She looked a lot like this. https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/speckled_sussex.html .
Well, I looked up Australorps and they do sound a lot like Roger (what I called him. no idea what his real name is).
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Toss them an apple... It’s like watching a game of chicken rugby. They will appreciate any apple core as well but it’s nowhere near as much fun to watch as a whole round apple. A rat or a mouse can trigger the same type of match but not recommended for squeamish spectators.
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Haha, grasshoppers or frogs too!
I once watched a little silkie hen try to down a very, very fat mouse. It sounded horrible, like she was choking & was going to die...it was a huge mouse. Anyway, it was half down, and up it came. The chicken saw the mouse and tried again (stupid chicken). She did get it down after a bit more of a noisy struggle. I knew they ate mice, but wow, that one event in particular was quite a sight!
@Jimerson I will see what I can do. 😉
@blevinandwomba That is the breed I want! Speckled Sussex 💖! Just not hatchery, and here is my reason...they may lay better, but those are no longer pure due to crossing with more prolific layer only breeds. In doing so, they sacrificed some of the dependable breed characteristics. I was told that in order to get the most true to breed, to get show stock and work on the breeding to bring up the rate of lay. Show stock rate of lay was sacrificed for looks. It would be a lot of work, but could be a fun project.
I appreciate the dependability and hardiness of the heritage breeds.
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“I once watched a little silkie hen try to down a very, very fat mouse. It sounded horrible, like she was choking & was going to die...it was a huge mouse. Anyway, it was half down, and up it came. The chicken saw the mouse and tried again (stupid chicken). She did get it down after a bit more of a noisy struggle. I knew they ate mice, but wow, that one event in particular was quite a sight!”
LOL!!! That reminds me of Hei Hei, the side kick Bantam from Moana, always trying to swallow things that are too large and choking on them. Hei Hei was a perfect metaphor and representation of humanity (lost, clueless, Maui fed and cared for Hei Hei in much the same way he cared for humans). Hei Hei was one of Disney’s dumbest characters of all time, clueless about his surroundings, irrational overreacting, trying to swallow too much, just like humanity.
Chickens are tiny little dinosaurs, and I have watched them hunt and attack rats like little velociraptors, but they usually tear it apart into pieces before gulping the chunks down. Many forget chickens and pigs are omnivores and that they appreciate and need diversity and variety in their diets. And food can be one of the best toys of all, especially if the have to race around with each other and work to get a piece of it.
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I think the diversity in their diets makes for tastier, more nutritious eggs, too! 🥚🍳
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Well a bit late is better than never. Here are some pictures. The first roo had frostbite damage. These are reps of my marans. I have French Black (and blue) Copper & Blue Wheaten varieties.
This one grew A LOT after I got him. I was told he was a perfect specimen. 😊
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Muscovy hen, one of the call ducks (we have a few colors), and our Indian runner & we think cayuga-runner cross drake.
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Thank you for sharing the photos, this made my morning! Such beautiful birds :D
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OK, I know I am super gullible... but was that really a chicken playing the piano???
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Here are a few of my jersey giants in a mixed flock. I have both black & blue varieties.
And white silkie roo. I have partridge too.
I forgot... @Jimerson Look at my birds! Haha
Additions in the near future will be seramas again, Bielefelder, and speckled sussex. Cotournix quail will be coming in the next few weeks.
Don't even get me started on my wish list. 😞
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@Marjory Wildcraft Yes, that is a real chicken playing the piano. If you look at the keys, you will see that they light up red. The chicken is far from musical, she just wants to see what those lit keys taste like. 😊
Chickens are attracted to red. It is the color of blood, which is full of protein. This is why birds peck at others when they molt and why they pick on each other/cannibalize when they see blood. This is another reason I will not tag my birds with red zip ties!
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