What do Chickens Like to Play With?
Keeping backyard chickens is not only about egg production but also about ensuring the well-being of your feathered friends. Providing environmental enrichment is a great way to promote natural behaviors and mental stimulation in your backyard flock, especially in the winter months.
Chickens are curious creatures that thrive when they have plenty of opportunities to explore, peck, and play. In this blog article, we’ll explore different ways to keep your pet chickens entertained and healthy with various enrichment activities.
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The Importance of Environmental Enrichment
Enrichment activities are vital for the mental health and overall well-being of chickens. By engaging in natural behaviors like pecking, dust bathing, and foraging, chickens stay happy and healthy. Enrichment helps prevent boredom, which can lead to undesirable behaviors such as feather pecking and bullying within the flock.
Best Enrichment Toys and Activities for Chickens
1. Chicken Swings and Perches
Providing different heights and areas for your chickens to perch and swing is an excellent way to keep them entertained. Chicken swings can be hung in the chicken coop or chicken run, allowing your flock to enjoy some fun activity.
You could also consider adding tree stumps and branches to the chicken run which offers natural climbing and perching options, mimicking a more natural environment for your chickens.
2. Edible Treats and Food Toys
Using food toys like treat balls is a perfect way to combine feeding with mental stimulation. The Precision Pet Chicken Treat Ball or puzzle feeders filled with healthy treats like corn cobs or leafy greens can provide hours of entertainment for your chickens. You can also go simple, and poke holes in an empty water bottle and fill it with mealworms. They will roll that thing around until it’s empty!
Attaching a head of lettuce or a cabbage ball to the coop wall can provide a fun and nutritious snack. Peanut butter smeared on empty plastic bottles or cricket tubes can also serve as tasty treats that encourage foraging behavior.
3. Dust Bathing Areas
Creating a dust bathing area with dry soil or sand allows chickens to engage in this natural behavior, helping them keep their feathers clean and free from parasites.
4. Shiny Objects and Mirrors
Chickens are attracted to shiny things. Hanging old CDs or providing chicken mirrors can stimulate their curiosity and keep them occupied as they explore their own reflections. I have noticed that my Guinea Fowl, Buddy actually loves to look at himself in the mirror more than my chickens. It’s quite comical!
7. Enrichment Toys and Games
Specially designed chicken enrichment toys like the chicken xylophone or a jungle gym can offer new and exciting ways for chickens to play. Once I showed my flock how to use their xylophone, they loved it!
Enrichment for Different Seasons
Summer Enrichment
During the summer months, providing cool treats like frozen strawberries or frozen watermelon and shaded areas is essential. Frozen treats like corn cobs or leafy greens can help keep your chickens cool and entertained. To keep my flock cool and entertained, I’ll freeze peas and water in a silicone donut mold. They love to peck at it to get the peas!
Winter Enrichment
In the winter, warm treats and extra hay bales in the chicken coop provide comfort and entertainment. I gave my chickens their first hay bale last year, and they had so much fun scratching through it! I also like to make them flock-block in the winter to hang in the run. It gives them extra nutrition during the colder months and also provides much needed mental stimulation.
I live in Wisconsin so we have long stretches of subzero temperatures where my chickens can’t get out to free range. During that time, I will order them live crickets to let loose in the run. They go nuts chasing after and eating them! Ensuring enough space for indoor activities helps keep chickens active even during colder weather.
Additional Tips for Happy Chickens
- Company of Other Chickens: Chickens are social animals and enjoy the company of other chickens. Ensure your backyard flock has enough members to interact with each other.
- New Items and Changes: Introducing new items to the chicken run or coop, like different types of enrichment toys or varying the layout, keeps the environment interesting for your curious animals.
- Natural Instincts: Allowing chickens to forage and explore different areas supports their natural instincts and promotes optimal health.
Bottom Line
Enriching your chickens’ environment is a great idea to ensure they lead happy and healthy lives. By providing a variety of toys, treats, and activities, you can keep your flock entertained and mentally stimulated. Whether it’s through food puzzles, dust bathing, or interacting with new and shiny objects, the key is to offer diverse enrichment activities on a daily basis. Remember, a well-entertained chicken is a healthy chicken, and a healthy chicken lays the best eggs.
What other things do your chickens love to play with? Let me know in the comments!
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Essential Dust Bath Ingredients
What Bugs Can Chickens Eat?
Can Chickens Eat Strawberries?
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