Chicken bald back

[heth1986]

Hello everyone, I haven't posted on here for a very long time due to new (human) arrivals but I wanted to get some of your expert advice...

My girls have a WIR which was very kindly built by my hubby a few years ago. I currently have 3 bantam ladies in there, one Wyandotte, one Maran and one sulmtala (spelling?!). The run itself is pretty big for the 3 of them I think, it's at least 5 metres long by 3 metres wide but it also fans out towards the front where it's probably also about 5 metres wide.

I've just moved a load of turf up there which has covered the bare soil (it might take, it might not, but we were digging it up anyway) and the rest is wood chip. Other than a bit of wood to sit on, the girls don't really have much to do.

Does anyone have some good ideas for entertaining them (I can't hang things up as the sides aren't strong enough with the clematis etc growing up it).

And (the fun bit) how many more do you think I could have in there before they'd start destroying the joint?

Thankyou in advance!

Ps I'll try and attach a picture...

[heth1986]

Gosh the picture's huge, sorry!

[Cat tails]

That is a very spacious run for 3 bantams!

 

To be honest, I don't think the grass will last... even 3 chickens will make short work of it.

Most on here agree that you need 1 square meter per chicken. That would mean 15 in yours, although that might be pushing it.

 

You could add some more logs, and maybe perches on poles? A large tripod would let you hang greens from it. You could fill the tyre with some sand, as a dustbath.

[mullethunter]

You could buy a fairly large potted tree. Wouldn't give them anything to do exactly but it would add shade and interest. Or - and this is a bit long term - plant some hardy shrubs around the edges - keep the girls away from them until they're established. Mine have the run of our shrubby borders and they love rootling around in there.

[mullethunter]

Oh - and Cattails is right - 15 by the book, but I reckon around half that would be a good bet

[Cat tails]

7,5 chickens... that's rather cruel Mullet!

[Plum]

How about a bench to sunbathe on and you can sit with them

[heth1986]

Thankyou for all of the ideas! I shall start creating next weekend if the sun shines! Hopefully there will still be some grass left, these 3 don't seem to be bothered about scratching about on the lawn so I thought they might give it a chance, time will tell...

I was thinking along the lines of another 2 or 3 banties, I think hubby would have something to say if I appeared with a dozen new hens!

[sarkymite]

Is your run fully enclosed? We created a "shelf" in ours today with a hidey box on it and a ramp up, so they have 2 levels to be on, added a 2nd high perch and also a tray for dust/sand bathing.

[mullethunter]

7,5 chickens... that's rather cruel Mullet!

 

I said AROUND half

[Luvachicken]

You could buy a couple of those little bird stick things (sorry, really not sure what they are called) but they are made of hanging basket bracket stuff with a hooked end. You can poke the pointy end into the ground and then hang treats on the hooky bit. I have 3 of them in my run.

 

Mine also have some wooden mushrooms to sit on and 2 children's benches that came from Robert Dyas - don't know if they still have them though.

 

They also have a mini plastic house to go in but don't use it very often.

 

You could also buy them a cat treat ball which you can vary the size of the hole so some treats fall out when they 'play' with it.

[heth1986]

Thankyou all! Lots of ideas there. The grass is still looking good a couple of days on so fingers crossed!