101 ways to keep your confined chickens happy

[Millymollymandy]

Front view




Side view, back in April when the grass was all fresh before they dug it all up!

[Shirley]

sounds like they are already pretty well looked after and are happy chooks - I suppose you could use one of those catlitter trays and grow some grass as they love to eat young shoots of grass apparently

[Shirley]

it looks fab - and you have excellent taste in blue paint

Assuming that you have roosting poles for them - of course you do....

[Millymollymandy]

Yes! I think they have everything that a happy chook requires! Even the grass as I keep picking it for them now!

And they have sawdust and straw inside. And two snuggy little nest boxes, though of course two of them will try to lay in the same one at the same time!

[Upahill]

Wow that's a good house! Fingers crossed the flu won't make it any closer to you.

Spike a swede or turnip on a nail for them to pick at or throw them a whole cabbage maybe?
Could a feed ball idea work for hens? Dogs have rubber "Kongs" with frozen food inside to keep them working at it when left alone. I've seen horse feed balls where they nudge a ball with small holes all over it to make the food fall out gradually. Could something similar be fashioned for the hens and would they bother?

[ina]

Treadmill for a bit of exercise ?

TV, showing Chicken Run?

[Millymollymandy]

It's hard work this keeping them amused. It's also amazing just how much green stuff they eat, that you wouldn't notice when they are outside. They are ravenous for anything green now.

I dug up some turf with clods of earth for them to eat/scratch at, and they were gone in seconds!

I'm also getting concerned about them not getting any sunshine. Do you think it will be detrimental to their health? I'm thinking of letting them back out into their covered run when the sun shines, for an hour or so here and there. Doubt anyone will notice or care. My neighbour refuses to put hers away but I haven't seen any other chickens outside recently.

[ina]

I think you should be ok as long as they can't take to the big wide open spaces...

I've got a similar problem with the goats at the moment. Winter is bad, feed-wise; they are desperate for green stuff and nearly knock me down every time I have some cabbage leaves or apple cores for them. And then, they hate the weather - but they voluntarily confine themselves to their little hut to shelter from the snow! They don't even like walking in it when the sun is shining. At least we know that it can only be a matter of a few more days or weeks at the most here, whereas with the hens - who knows.

[hedgewizard]

Rig up an old hanging basket inside their run, on a piece of string. Fill with fresh greenery (this time of year cleavers ((=goosegrass=stickybuds=galium aperine)) is sprouting and they KILL for it) and adjust the height so they really have to jump high to get a beakfull. Only trouble is they keep jumping until it's all gone (usually 10 mins). Over time they get better at jumping too so you need to keep shortening the string!

Find five old gooseberry bushes in a hedge and replant them out in the chicken run so give them something to chase each other round. And endless fun for the neighbours watching you scratch yourself to bits on them when you try to catch your chickens.

Slugs and snails habour worm cysts btw so make sure you worm your birds regularly if you feed them these (I do... it saves the problem of how to deal with said molluscs).

Thinking of trying to make a smaller "ball" version of the hanging basket idea so that a peck sets it swinging... anyone think what I could use?

[The Chili Monster]

blue baling twine?

[hedgewizard]

AAAARGH!

[Wombat]

[Millymollymandy]

Hedgie - they are confined in their shed due to bird flu regs! So no running around in a run or gooseberry bushes!!! More's the pity.

[hedgewizard]

CDs glued to the walls for them to admire themselves in? Hey, that's number... (goes to other thread)

[Millymollymandy]

No. 35 (or whatever!)

Say 'S*d it' and let them out into their main run again, because yesterday I saw that the places where I had thought they had shut their chooks in, hadn't, and one of them is right in the centre of the village next to the recycling bins!!! There must be 5 places with chooks or ducks roaming completely free range close to where I live!

So chooks were very happy yesterday pm and there was even some grass in their run as it has been a while since they went in there.