Poultry 101 Entertaining Activites
The benefits of a busy flock are clear:
• Physical Health: Movement helps birds stay warm and maintain a healthy weight.
• Mental Stimulation: Activities that mimic natural behaviors, such as foraging and pecking, keep birds engaged and prevent cognitive decline.
• Flock Harmony: A busy, contented flock is less likely to turn on each other, promoting a peaceful coop environment.
Dr. Kathryn Dench, chief scientific advisor for Paw Origins, tells AcreageLife that enrichment activities can positively affect the health of your flock. " In my experience, the difference between an understimulated and a content winter flock is striking; simple enrichment activities can prevent most behavioral problems before they start," said Dench.
Creative Enrichment Ideas
Keeping your flock entertained doesn ' t require expensive toys or complicated setups. Often, the best solutions are simple, DIY and make use of items you already have.
Hanging veggie toys One of the easiest and most effective boredom busters is a hanging veggie toy. Katie Jones, owner of Squirrel A Store of Buried Treasure, is a firm believer in this method. " The easiest yet incredibly useful way to solve the problem of boredom in your flock is to provide them with a DIY boredom buster in the form of a hanging veggie piñata."
How-To: " Use a large cabbage, piece of lettuce or some old stalks of broccoli," Jones suggests. " Then tie it up with a line of good stuff or a small rope and just hang it at the head of the chicken coop or some rafters in the coop. The vegetable must be at the height of the flock, and then they will have to jump and peck to get a piece of it."
Benefits: This simple activity turns a snack into a physical challenge that can last for hours. " This insignificant activity turns eating into a fun, playful and time-consuming foraging game that preoccupies their mind," said Jones.
Seed blocks and pecking logs A long-lasting treat block is another fantastic option for sustained entertainment.
DIY Recipe: Create a simple, high-energy snack by combining scratch grains, black oil sunflower seeds and oats with a binder such as melted suet or unflavored gelatin. Press the mixture into a pan, log mold or suet cage and let it set.
Benefits: This treat provides a nutritious, highenergy snack that requires birds to work for their food. It encourages natural pecking behavior and can keep them occupied for long stretches.
A handful of worms will keep your flock busy.
14 Winter 2025 www. chickenwhisperermagazine. com