Entertain your flock with these fun chicken toys (2024)

FAQs

How do you make chicken toys for boredom? ›

Pick a bunch of tall grass or weeds and tie it into a bundle. Hang the bundle in the coop for chickens to peck at. Give your chickens sunflower heads to eat the seeds. Tie a cabbage or iceberg lettuce to a string and hang it in the coop as a chicken pinata.

If you're wondering what kinds of toys chickens like to play with, there are lots to choose from. Think about climbing toys, swings, mirrors, and toys that involve treats.

Chicken Toy: upcycle a clean plastic bottle. Carefully poke holes all over the plastic bottle (and for heavens sakes don't cut, stab, poke or slice your hands and fingers). Fill ½ way with treats, seeds or grains or delicious certified organic chicken treat, Cluck Yea from Treats for Chickens ;).

You can use hollowed out logs or giant card tubes to create fun tunnels and walkways, they love going inside and popping out the other, just be aware that some card can be toxic, and as chickens do they may peck it so try and use something natural like giant bamboo!

But a recent study in Nature suggests chickens enjoy play too. They run. They jump. They even play with toys — a fake worm in this case — along with their fellow chickens.

Chicken Peck Toys

This instinct is catered for by chicken peck toys. The birds love to peck at things, so it's no surprise that they enjoy using these toys too. Chickens don't necessary need toys to survive but chicken toys will certainly help your birds become happy and healthy.

A clean coop will help calm stressed chickens. Nesting Herbs and other calming herbs spread around of the coop and in dust bathing areas might also help your chickens to relax.

A study was conducted by Bristol university in which they played pop, rock, classical or silence in nestboxes and monitored the laying chickens' preferences. They found that the chickens were much more likely to lay in the 'musical boxes', and that they had a slight preference for the classical music.

Putting a bale or pile of straw or hay in the chicken coop or run will keep your girls entertained for hours - they are not a fan of piles! Watch as they scratch and peck at the straw searching for insects, seeds and other hidden goodies until there is a pile no more.

How do I make my chickens happy? ›

Although chickens do not 'play' in the same way as a dog will play with a stick or a cat will play with a ball of wool, they still enjoy a bit of fun. Chicken toys are best described as objects that the birds can interact with - things that stimulate them, and that appeal to their instincts and natural behaviours.

Chickens are really good at sensing what's happening around them, and they can start to like people who give them food, a safe place to live, and keep them safe.

Chickens are stimulated by anything that hangs down, and will respond eagerly to pinata-like objects that they can peck at, or even softwood or grass hangings that they can shred. If playback doesn't begin shortly, try restarting your device.

If you find yourself in a situation where you have one chicken remember that the bird still needs to have social connections, and you will need to treat the hen as a pet, spending a lot of time with her, keeping her nearby, and doting on her.

If possible, you should keep it in the house so that it can interact with you and your family in the absence of fellow chickens. It also helps if you have toys for them to play with, just like you would with a cat or dog. Toys involving food can be great fun for them.