Omlet cube and run

[RubyandRosie]

Does anyone have any suggestions for the times when our 3 hens are locked in their run for several days? My husband does not let them free-range when I am away (with my work), as he has trouble catching them. I feel sorry for them, as they are used to supervised free-ranging several times a day when I am at home. A friend has suggested putting in some branches with buds on for them to peck at. Do you have any other suggestions please? We have a Cube with a WIR. I have placed several logs inside for them to climb on, and also a plant pot with some veg in, but within a day any greenery has been munched away. Thanks for any suggestions.

[blueandwhite]

Hang up a cabbage and some CDs. I don't have to catch mine to get them back in the run, just throw in a few sultanas or any sort of random food and in they go. You can get those ball things from the pound shops for cats and put food in them, takes ages for hens to get it out. I put hay in the run so they have something to scratch about in, maybe a dustbath? Good luck

[mimi5]

Hi I have a cube with 3 run extensions and my girls have to be shut in for 3 days a week whilst I'm a work They have a dust bath which they love hanging veg or a halved apple and perches/ logs.

 

Maybe you could ask your hubby to let your girls out for a short FR just before dusk? Then they will go in to bed themselves? He would need to be around though unless you have a fox proof garden. Mine are enjoying this at the moment with the lighter evenings Also you could train the hens to come for a handful of corn rattled in a pot/tin.

[Chortle Chook]

How about a pile of largish pebbles with some mealy worms under them in the mud? My girls love turning over pebbles and if they are largish pebbles (cobble stone sized for instance) then they can't do it immediately but have to keep at it.

[cluckfest]

Whenever I do my weeding, I toss the lot in a pile in their run. They are like a bunch of pensioners at a jumble sale It keeps them occupied for hours rootling around looking for bugs and worms. They separate the soil from the weeds beautifully and the freshly seived topsoil gets returned to the garden.

[Redwing]

As long as they have enough room they will be fine

 

Hens dont get bored in the same way a human might, they do 'enjoy' things to do but wont suffer in the slightest if there is nothing to do

 

The effects that we sometimes see as a result of boredom are usually caused by hens being kept in too small a space and then they get stressed as opposed to bored

[coco]

My hens are kept in a large walk in run and never come out. They have a couple of branches and some perches. They all seem quite happy and amuse themselves by digging large holes, usually in line with where I walk when I go to shut them in at night.