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Hello,
Current poultry stock stands at one cock, one hen, and five adolesents, three girls and two boys.
They usually have free reign of the garden, and adjacent fields and woods. However, if no-one is going to be home by dusk to shut them away for the night (five days a week pretty much all winter) they are left confined in the run. This is about a dozen feet long and eight feet wide. There are two small sheds accessible from this run where the can roost. The run has wire mesh sides and a wire mesh roof so is completely fox-proof. it has feeders and water. The floor is bare dirt.
However, when they are shut in it for a week or so they do look rather bored.
What do other poultry keepers give your chickens to entertain them? What do they like best?
Anyone else expecting this?
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Chicken porn.
An onion halved and a couple carrots chopped roughly and keep them all with the chicken in a warm place for a little while keeps them quiet.
Some ladders to climb on, they seem to like that.
Obstacles that they have to manouvre, over, under, around.
An area where they can have a dry dust bath.
Hanging food keeps them entertained until its all gone, corn cobs, apples, carrot etc.
The mirror is quite entertaining as they try to work out who the other chickens are that are in it.
Oh and if it windy, don't put in a 50p football (10 bob swerver) as it will most likely scare the shit out of them when the wind moves it.
An Eggs-Box 360?
^. Genius
Ours just put themselves to bed - we have a fox proof garden , in the middle of a housing estate so we just leave them to the whole garden - they have an egloo cube that's left open all year. They go to bed at dusk and get the door shut when the first of us gets home.
The run has wire mesh sides and a wire mesh roof so is completely fox-proof.
That's a bold statement and likely to be untrue. A fox will get through chicken wire and can dig underneath.
They love to scratch about so if you can add something like rotted down lawn clippings (will be full of worms) or a small bale of hay they'll love it.
Why are there two sheds? You're better off having just one as there's less to clean and they'll all be together - they don't need much space at all.
An Eggs-Box 360?
Or a laystation.
Get them a Ninhendo?
An Eggs-Box 360?Or a laystation.
Get them a Ninhendo?
.
Brilliant 🙂 Bit modern for me, but sure I can find a Monopoullet set or Battlechicks for them to try.
.
There are two sheds because one was old and tatty and coming to bits so we put the new one there too. Still seems fox-proof but just not as nice as the new one. They all tend to use the new one at nights, the perches are better and probably warmer for them if they are all together.
Thought of that :_) It's folded onto the ground outside the run, then some old corrugated iron on top of that and all covered with dirt. Fox would have to start digging about 3ft out and tunnel under.That's a bold statement and likely to be untrue. A fox will get through chicken wire and can dig underneath.
Lawn clipping good idea. They've got a cabbage at the minute but not much else. The little ladders and stuff sounds good, sure I could nail a few branches together for them.
Our run is surrounded by a 50m electric fence. Fox comes through the garden quite regularly but so far hasn't broken in. We have a ramp up a tree in the run plus an old garden table and chairs which they sit on/under. Recently we've hung up brussel sprout stalks and made our own pecking ball to keep them amused - works a treat. Love the eggsbox360, laystation and ninhendo ideas through 🙂
Do they put themselves to bed properly? If so, why not get an automatic door closer? Mine used to bed down just before dusk at which point the door would quietly slide shut.
For entertainment I just used to leave them to roam around the garden - they'd soon find things to do themselves.
IME there is no such thing as a fax-proof garden. They'll happily scale a 6' wall.
We have a similar set up and ours hate being left in the run all day - we'll do it occasionally but generally just let them out - as above, they put themselves to bed and we shut the door when we get home.
From time to time one of them will roost somewhere random in the garden so we have to get the torches and out search - sometimes we'll find her, sometimes not, in which case she usually reappears the next morning, looking perplexed at why she is outside and the others are all shut in...
They'll happily scale a 6' wall.
What's funny is watching them try when you accidentally catch them at it - the male fox was dragged over a 6' wall by his penis...
Would the hens be able to turn their Eggsbox 360, Laystation and Ninhendo on and oeuf?
Would the hens be able to turn their Eggsbox 360, Laystation and Ninhendo on and oeuf?
It's hard to say where the next yolk is going to come from.
It's hard to say where the next yolk is going to come from.
My eggsact thought.
Oeufor goodness sake!
The Eggsbox 360, Laystation and Ninhendo might be a bit expensive, not sure I could shell out that much
yo-yokes
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cloacas
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As said, auto closers are a good idea. My folks have been using one for over a year and not had any issues yet, sun comes up - door opens, sun goes down - chickens go to bed then door closes. Only on the first couple of nights did they have any issues (mostly due to one being stuck up a honeysuckle).