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Thursday, July 19, 2012

Beating Boredom

Me, bored?  Never.

Even as a child I was rarely bored.  That's because if I ever admitted I was bored my Mom would find something for me to do.  And it was usually an extra chore or two, nothing fun!

So, needless to say, I managed to keep myself occupied!

Maybe that's why I have so many hobbies that I enjoy!

But my chickens, on the other hand, are showing signs of boredom.

Several of my girls' bottoms are bare which means other girls are pecking at the feathers out of boredom.  All the rain we've had lately hasn't helped either as they tend to stay in their coop when it rains.

I read somewhere about hanging a treat for the chickens to help with the boredom.

This is what I came up with...


A basket made out of leftover chicken wire and the old rope from the chicken coop windows.

Then, I dropped a head of iceburg lettuce in it and waited.


I knew it would be a while before anyone got up enough nerve to really check it out so I went indoors to shower and cool off.  (After cleaning the coop and removing all the leftover rocks that weren't used around the duck pond I was pretty ripe!).

Several hours later I went back outside and they had finally discovered it!


Ol' Roostie is keeping his eye on me while I'm photographing his girls...


Isn't he handsome?  He knows it too!  He's also VERY protective of his girls.  Some days he just does not want me near them and he lets me know it by attacking my feet, sigh.

Here he is showing off and doing what he does best... making noise!


Here's a fun little video of how the girls are beating boredom...


I'm hoping this will help ease their boredom.  I do not want the girls to have bare bottoms when Ol' Man Winter comes along.

Linking up with


The Morris Tribe Blog Carnival



Till next time,


14 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

the swinging is cute. gives 'em something of a toy and a treat. :)

Kathy Felsted Usher said...

This is great! I love it.

Gail Dixon said...

What a clever idea for the coop! Your rooster definitely is a handsome fella. :)

Lynn said...

Your rooster is a pretty boy! I half expected to see one of the girls sitting on top of the chicken wire/lettuce:@)

Christine said...

Definitely a neat idea! The chickens do seem to like it.

A Daughter of the King said...

It would be good to give them a little extra protein, too. One way I do this is to pop what's left of a roasted chicken into the crockpot on low for a few days (until the bones break down enough to crush them between your fingers) then I everything out, save the broth, which contains a lot of goodness from the bones, and feed what's left to the birds. They LOVE it, and the protein is good for growing feathers.

Heather @ Simple Wives said...

Ha! This post made me smile. As a kid, I wasn't allowd to say "I'm bored". If I did, it meant extra chores. ;-)

Debbie said...

hehe...i love the sound of the chickens!!

seems they are enjoying themselves...i am never bored, i have a blog!!

Nancy said...

What a great idea!

Thank you for sharing at Rural Thursdays this week. xo

Connie said...

I watched the video and it looks like they are having a good time. No boredom there. Your rooster is gorgeous!

Thanks for the sweet comment on my dragonfly photo. He is a beauty isn't he?
Have a great day, Connie :)

Karen @ Pieces of Contentment said...

Great job, I love how it sways from side to side.

Georgianna said...

This is so cute – I have never kept chickens so wouldn't have known about the bare bottoms. Looks like you definitely created a diversion. :)

Have a wonderful week.

– g

Anonymous said...

That's a pretty clever idea, looks like they were happy. Love that photo with Roostie up on that fence, mouth wide open :)

CountryDew said...

This is very clever. I love that rooster - he is a handsome fellow.

We raised chickens when I was young and I don't remember this being an issue. My brother still raises chickens. I will ask him what he does to keep his birds happy.

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