Chicken boarders

[fried-or-boiled]

I have four hens raised from chicks - they are about 8/9 months old now. They used to have the lions share of the garden but I have now made them a good sized WIR to which they are confined. The problem is that they pace up and down the fencing, looking longingly at the garden in which they used to roam free. One in particular, spends her entire time planning new ways to escape which she manages to do daily.

 

The WIR is about 12m long and approx 6m wide. It is situated under conifer trees, has a little bit of mud (used to be grass) and bark chips on black membrane. The membrane & chips were here when we moved in a year ago.

 

I hang a cabbage up in the afternoons, and chuck in s"Ooops, word censored!"s and grains too but they seem so bored most of the time. They scratch about in the bark chips but not much seems to live in there so it is a fruitless search. I even tried hanging a budgie type mirror up!

 

Any suggestions of how I can keep them more occupied would be much appreciated.

[Squawk]

Hi

 

I have a walk in run with wood chip too.

 

How deep is the woodchip? It needs to be a few inches deep to give them something worth digging in and we sometimes throw in some dried mealworms so there is something for them to find in there.

 

I hang up cabbages etc too - have you tried hanging them up high so them have to jump to eat them? We also have a bird feeder thats intended for fat balls but we put greens and fruit in there for them. Basically anything that means it takes them longer to eat their treats!

 

Do they have a perch or things to jump on in their run? That can help keep them occupied too.

 

Hope that helps

[Kittycat]

My chickens have been in a similar situation. After having all of the spring, summer and autumn to free range, they are now confined to their wood chip run to give our grass a chance to grow again. For the first week or so they were quite noisy but now they seem to have adapted to their new situation with remarkable ease

 

I think once you have seen how much enjoyment chickens get from free-ranging and their constant level activity, it is hard not to feel guilty about keeping them shut away. In this frame of mind it's all too easy to assume that your chickens are bored and unhappy whereas, in fact, they are probably perfectly content. If they really were unhappy, then you would probably be experiencing problems with feather pecking etc.

 

You seem to be doing all the right things and your WIR sounds plenty big enough. Try offering different types of fruit/veg for them to peck at rather than just cabbage - mine enjoy wedges of partially cooked swede, sweetcorn, lettuce, melon etc - I try to put something different in every day to keep their interest (a bit more expensive than free-ranging ). I also do homemade peck-a-blocks (mix together one egg, some flour and some water to a thickish paste, stir in seeds, mash, mealworms, raisins etc, mould in tin foil and bake in the oven on a low heat for about 1 hour til hard) which I string up in the run. In the afteernoons I sprinkle a couple of handfuls of mixed corn into the wood chippings for them to scratch about for. Sometimes I get creative and string up an empty yogurt pot with a small hole in the bottom filled with cooked peas.

 

Some people hang up CDs etc for them to peck at too, but mine completely ignore their Wombles CD (obviously to infantile for them )

 

I look forward to the day when Spring arrives and I can see them free-range again but in the meantime I am quite enjoying the challenge of keeping them amused. So don't be too hard on yourself - we have to remember that they are chickens, not people.

[shelley8179]

This is great advice , I have to keep mine in their run after a big vet bill when of one of my chickens was attacked by a cat . Cant wait to go to the shops and get all the things you have suggested.

[fried-or-boiled]

I agree! Will def be digging out my apron to make those pecka-blocks. Thanks also for putting things in perspective

[Jools]

Can they see what's on the other side of the fence? Remember the saying about the grass being greener ........

 

When I had fewer birds than I do now, I used to over-winter them in my 20ft x 8ft aviary to give the grass a chance to recover. The were bored stupid by the woodchip because after the first day or two, they'd explored every last piece of it and the only time they showed any interest was at mixed corn time, but that was very brief. I moved them out as soon as I could and now I've revised my winter chook arrangements!

 

Is there any way you can let them out for an hour or so a day, just so they can have a bit of a scratch around and hunt for tasty morsels? It won't make their time in the run any easier, but at least you'll have seen them happy each day!

[Egluntyne]

If they see you they will pace as they will be expecting you to let them out.

 

Can you spy on them from where they can't see you?

 

You might find them pottering about happily.

 

It sounds as if your set up is ideal, so I would ignore their attempts to guilt trip you. ;D

[sandyhas3chucks]

If they see you they will pace as they will be expecting you to let them out.

 

Can you spy on them from where they can't see you?

 

You might find them pottering about happily.

 

It sounds as if your set up is ideal, so I would ignore their attempts to guilt trip you. ;D

pace?

pace?

mine shout , hollar,, jump at the fence scream and I think, yes i think they swear at me to let them out, then they remember the food for a while and the whole thing starts all over again.

I have found that if I take them for a little forage before they are filled up, they soon want to get back to the food, or a treat and then seem settled.

But they are all different!

[keyhole kate]

If they see you they will pace as they will be expecting you to let them out.

 

Can you spy on them from where they can't see you?

 

You might find them pottering about happily.

 

It sounds as if your set up is ideal, so I would ignore their attempts to guilt trip you. ;D

pace?

pace?

mine shout , hollar,, jump at the fence scream and I think, yes i think they swear at me to let them out, then they remember the food for a while and the whole thing starts all over again.

I have found that if I take them for a little forage before they are filled up, they soon want to get back to the food, or a treat and then seem settled.

But they are all different!

 

Mine too but only if they see me

I honestly dont think my Children were as manipulative