Susan,
My setup is alot like yours. Here's a bit of hentertainment that I
learned by accident. I was using old plastic bread crates to put my
waterers on. After a while of sitting in one place some of the wheat
from the chicken scratch started to sprout under the crate. So now I
move the crates to allow the chickens to eat the sprouted wheat and
scratch for worms, seems to be quite alot of worms under the crate too.
You could build something out of wood and hardware cloth, about 3
feet by 3 feet by 6-8 inches high which would work just as well. Hope
this makes sense. I've also thought I might fence off a different bit
of the enclosure for a couple of weeks at the time to exclude the hens,
and let the greens start to sprout. Hope this makes sense and that your
hens enjoy!
Eileen
Susan Hogarth wrote:
> Please forgive the hideous pun.
>
> We have five hens and one rooster. We have a decent-sized enclosed
> yard (16x24, if I recall rightly) attached to a largish drafty old
> henhouse. We used to let them out at lunch for the afternoon but
> they've become too familiar with the environs (we only have an acre)
> and were wandering into the street (small court, but still...) and,
> worse, into the neighbor's yard where they provided her much
> entertainment BUT also the unwelcome 'digging' of her carefully
> mulched ornamental beds. *sigh*. One or two routinely get out each day
> but stick close, and wait politely for my husband to let them back in
> at lunchtime.
>
> So now we try to let them out for 20-30 mins right before roosting
> time (in fact we often get them off the roost as they will go to bed
> early from boredom), but only IF one of us gets home before they are
> well roosted. Otherwise they can go all week without getting an outing
> (they almost always get some time outside on the weekends, if only
> that brief half-hour of glory).
>
> So they are not technically abused birds, I think. But I do worry that
> they don't have much to occupy them. Their pen is dirt, with two small
> hollies for shade. I probably feed them way too much scratch grains,
> and (at this season - winter) not enough greens.
>
> My question is this: what can we do to provide them with
> entertainment? I wanted to add some three-dimensionality to the pen -
> what is the best way for that? Branches? Platforms? And are there
> 'toys' I can provide them, or giant foodballs that they can 'worry
> over' to keep them occupied? When I kept hens before I used to throw
> them a flake of alfalfa hay in the winter for the green leaves and
> entertainment value when they were snowbound in their house; I guess I
> should try that with these guys.
>
> Thoughts? Suggestions?
>
> - Susan
>
