Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[superjules]

Hi all,

 

My GNR love free ranging when I'm around but seem to sit and sulk when I leave them in the run. I let them out as much as I possibly can but of a weekday they end up in the run for about half the day. So I'd love to pick your brains, lovely people, concerning how you keep your chickens amused and entertained when confined to barracks.

 

Their run is covered with easibed which they kick about a bit. I gave them a big wide plant pot filled with earth and diatom for them to dustbathe in but they prefer doing that in the greenhouse! They have a new corn on the cob every other day that I hang in the run which they enjoy pecking at and I've also hung up a CD that they totally ignore , but other than that I'm at a bit of a loss what to give them to play with.

 

Any ideas gratefully received.

[theherd123]

Someone has recently added perches to their run for the chooks to sit on and it looks really good.

[chickencam]

Hanging a cabbage on a string from the top of the run seems to keep ours amused

[Olly]

Get a little metal cage (intended for blocks of fat for wild birds) - stuff it with cabbage, lettuce, etc. and suspend it.

 

Also, get a plastic ball (tennis-ball size) and cut a slit out of it, and put mealworms, sweetcorn, rice etc in - they have to kick it around the run to get them out! I think you can get dog-treat balls that are designed for this, but I found an abandoned plastic one in my garden and adapted it.

 

The downside is, when it's empty it is usually at the 'wrong' end of the run so it can be a bit of a job to retrieve it!

[superjules]

Thanks peeps, some interesting ideas there. I'll definately be trying them out.

 

I'd love to see the chooks kicking a tennis ball around!!

[Snowy]

I put a couple of planters in mine yesterday. They are half barrel planters that used to sit at the from door but are now overgrown with weeds. They are having a whale of a time digging out the weeds and eating all the woodlice!

[The Dogmother]

Quick way of geting the weeding done Snowy

[James H]

theres always someone at my house so the chooks are only in their run in early morning and bedtime, on the odd ocasion where they are not allowed in their run i tell them theyll just have to out up with it for now!

[Chickaboo]

To be honest, I find mine pace backwards and forwards, when they know your looking, but when (they think) your gone they go back to casual pecking! I have put a stack of logs (the slabs you get in garden centres), and a perching bar in the run, which they really like, and occasionally bury some treats in amongst the wood chippings for them to find. Also the blocks of seeds, that you but for wild birds, keeps them busy.

[The Dogmother]

I hang up greens for mine when they're confined to the run, and fill one of the cages mentioned above with greens too. Be careful to use seed blocks, but NOT the fat blocks for wild birds - they are far too fatty for chooks.

[Jules.]

I have just bought a seed bell for my girls, they have had a little nibble at it. They went wild for some bird seed my dad gave me. I am having to organise things for them to do, as they are going to my BIL soon while he chicken sits. They will have to be confined to the run as he lives in a rural place. Not only do I have to think about packing for us (& with the Lacey Theatre Company visit I am organising for next Tuesday I can think of nothiing else yet) I have to make a chicken holiday checklist

Layers pellets, aubiose, sweetcorn, meal worms, red mite powder, seed block, Eglu, run,shade... anything I have forgotten?

[The Dogmother]

Wild bird seed and seed blocks tend to be fattier, so don't give them too often - they're great in the winter though when they need a bit of fat to keep them warm. Tesco used to do (might still do) an organic seed bell, which was very good. Just hard enough to last a while and give loads of activity and fun.

[Jules.]

Thanks... as a chicken newie I didn't realise the calorific value of the seed. My girls would have been rolling out of the eglu in the morning

[The Dogmother]

It's oK to give it Jules, just not too often. They do love seed blocks, but stay with the solid ones rather than those glued together with (probably animal) fat. I mix sunflower seeds in with the corn I give as treats in the winter, int he summer, I switch the corn for Indigo Wheat (from Wiggly Wigglers) as it's lower in fat and higher in protein.

[Chickaboo]

Re-seed blocks!

I think I meant the ones for budgies etc, not the ones containing lard . I didn't mean to mis-advice!! Chickens have to watch their cholesterol too!