Evening, girls…
We’ve had chickens a while now (sort of ‘rescued’ from someone who could no longerhave them.Moving to new rental,with paved back garden. Said ‘yes we’ll have them for a few days..’ ,ended up falling in love!) and they in a run when I’m not around, as we back onto railway,so foxes are a risk,as are neighbourhood cats. But they do come out if i’m in garden,and forage etc…

What I wanted to ask,anyone found a way of enriching the run,aside from places to perch,ready water, occasional meal worms held out - they hand feed - once food bowl is emptied and removed (fed at 6am,empty by 7.30am, removed to discourage any ‘vermin’). Chicken ‘toys’ perhaps?!

Ta in advance…x

Chickens like to scratch (the extent to which depends on breed, I have some Pekin bantams right now, they seem to deem their fine feathered feet too posh to scratch). Sounds like they are on soft ground which is a start. I would not hand feed them but scatter the meal worms on the ground, it’s best if you can do this with (some of) their feed too but take your point about vermin, so that’s your call. If they fill their bellies so early it’s not much incentive to scratch around for food so I would leave the main feed til later in the day - especially important as bored “get it all on a plate” chickens in an enclosed area can take to pecking eachother for fun and it’s best to avoid it rather than have it start and then try to get them to stop.

We’ve got an eclectic mix! A russian red (Red) and buff orpington(Delilah), both bantams, and a hamburg microbantam, (called Mike, short for micro chicken! Still a girl) ...

They’re on a soft surface - bark chippings top cover, and soil below -  and are happy to still scratch round (never know when next woodlouse might wander in to the coop! ) So aren’t getting bored after feeding time. Could feed before school run,and pop home and take out before doing any other bits…? The 6am feed just fits really well with our lifestyle, but my LMC come 1st (The Little Mother Cluckers is their nickname :D)

They are out for at least an hour most days (with exception being if we’re away and someone else is feeding the Saturday/Sunday morning,and Tuesdays, as they only come out for half hour due to schoolrun and running commitmentsat a playgroup)

They don’t seem unhappy, or bored, per sey. I just like to pamper them…

Oh, and there’s no incidents of recreational pecking, but I will keep an eye onit,as I know it happens if they’re in a run,and don’t *have* to forage…x

at the moment i’m scooping up large handfuls of leaves and chucking them in the run for them to scratch about in..sure theres tasty things to be had in that if they look hard enough..seems to keep em busy for a while at least..
hanging up a cabbage for them to jump up at?

mummyk x

Oooh,leaves sounds enriching!