Chicken bored in pen?

Question

The chicken pen is quite large but they seem to get bored and want to get out to walk around the rest of the yard. They are allowed to wander around the rest of yard only when I can watch them.

Does anyone else have this "bored chicken" problem?

Answer 1

i live on a ranch and we have chickens.

we let them run around and they always come back to the coop at night. if u want to make they're life more exciting, then catch some bugs and put the in the coop. they'll have buckets of fun!! or u can give fruit or something.

Answer 2

Wow, the mulch sounds great just watch out for any ticks, down here in Florida mulch for some reason can harbor ticks. If you also want you can plant some vegetable plants near their pen and they will love being your natural insect eaters. Nurseries down here use them as organic pest control.

Answer 3

That's interesting. I didn't think that chickens had enough brains to be bored.

Answer 4

Chickens are really quite smart and do get bored. This is one of the reasons it's so cruel to keep them in battery cages for eggs... Providing interesting things for them to do and eat is a really good way to beat this.

Look up a list for some safe and fun foods to eat and also some interesting way of presenting them. There are a lot of sites about this on the net! Things like hanging food from the roof and scattering seeds so they have to look for it is an example.

Here is a really good site I found so have a read of this! It's someone asking this same question

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load...

Good luck to you!

Answer 5

i have my chickens on mulch right now and they love it they dig for worms and bugs in it and are always scratching i spread feed on the ground every once in awhile to give them something to dig for i am currently building a coop for them i plan to put the mulch in it and possibly get worms to put in it to encourage the scratching and spread food through it and i rake it up to stir it up they don't seem bored and i give them lots of things to roost on in the yard like some old wagon wheels and logs and branches i wedged into the fence so they can sit on it and they got lots of company 15 total so maybe you can try some of that chickens are social animals so company is good

Answer 6

My sister used to live out in the country awhile back. One day out front a rooster appeared. He was the cutest rooster. We named him "clucky". I swear that rooster would follow us around just like a dog. We would run around the house and call his name and he would run so fast around that corner to see where we went. lol  it's funny just thinking about it now.

Do you have a rooster or are they all chickens? I would think if you let them out without you around they wouldn't go that far....but then again i'm no farmer?? sorry i can't help.

Answer 7

I used to have 2 chickens but now I have 1. She is very lonely. To keep her happy and not lonely I give corn [as thats her fave food] so give your chickens food but make sure they get exercise.

Answer 8

I used to have the same problem. I just let the chickens out during the day and at night they go right back in their pen, so all I have to do is shut the door. You should do the same thing b/c they will go back to their pen at night. Its just natural instinct.

Answer 9

Catch a hungry fox and place him in the pen with your chickens.  They will never be bored again.

Answer 10

well i have alot of chickens and two turkeys and we let them have the whole yard to be in. they seem to enjoy it. we had a pen but they found ways to get out. it was a very big pen. they got a little "bored" in that pen but now that they are free in the yard they don't have that problom.

Answer 11

When  I  had  chickens  I  felt  this  way  also.  But I would  wait  till late in day  as  they  will return on there  own to  pen to roost.  It  also gives  you  time  to  clean out  pen and  water.  I  also  provide  old  lettuce,  canolope  rinds,  watermelon  rinds  when I  had  it.

Answer 12

Of course they want to get out ... that is because they know that beyond the pen gate is an area where they can go free!

here are a few ideas

*hang up some veggies (cabbage, watermelon etc) so they have to jump and get them .. keeps  mine entertained for hours, although i hang up the veggies in the house cos mine free range.

*make sure the chickens have somewhere to dust-bath

a shallow container or sand /dry soil will do .

*instead of feeding them out of a dish .. scatter it on the ground .. keep them occupied. but beware this may cause a problem with vermin (rats, magpies etc)

*give them  a few *chicken-friendly plants to sctratch up  (plant them first obviously) lol

other then that let them out of their pen more often is all i can say!

Answer 13

The chooks probably arnt bored. All chooks do issleep, eat, p**p and dig into the ground for feed or ground insects. If your chicken pen is a cage only, then maybe a few metres of grassed area fenced off from any thing else can be arranged so they can come outside and dig in the dirt, play in the grass/weeds. Try scattering seed around their pen so they have to look for it. When you mow the grass, collect some clippings and spread it all around and in their pen. Throw feed around the grass so they have to dig the grass to fine food. Every once in a while, boil a lot of water and while it is hot, pour it on the dirt and in the grass so the worms come up. they will love this.

Hope i helped

Answer 14

Bored chickens will begin to pick on each other. I use chick toys.

Chick toys, you say?

Yes. Small blocks of styrofoam, the kind that comes around electronic equipment and the like. (NOT the kind in craft stores)

Now, wait, before you jump all over me and tell me how it will kill my birds, let me reassure you that it will not. There is nothing more delicate than a chick, and I had two dozen of them spend the night pecking off the side of one of my styrofoam incubators. Not even one problem.

Since then, I have discovered that it keeps the other birds from pecking the heads of my poor Polish chicks. You should see them. I break up a side of styrofoam into fist-sized pieces and toss them into their pen and they go crazy, chasing and pecking them. I have to put in several pieces to keep everyone happy.

I have been doing this for several years now and never lost a bird to it. It seems to be inert and pass right through.