Many people choose to have backyard chickens as pets. Chickens are not only great for providing an abundance of eggs to their barnyard parents, but they are actually very smart birds. According to research, like that from the Journal of Animal Cognition and Psys.org, Chickens have emotions, can do math (I know, I was surprised by this too!), and have cognitive skills such as good memory. They have the intelligence of a young Kindergartener. Some breeds are very friendly and enjoy treats and cuddles. You heard that right! Our Isa Brown Chickens enjoy cuddles. So cute! What is not to love about these beautifully feathered birds?
Busy Chickens are Happy Chickens
This Barnyard FitChick wants her chickens to be happy healthy chicks. If you have chosen the path of raising chickens, then you no doubt care about their health and happiness too. Chickens are like people and get bored very easily. They need physical and mental stimulation. Providing toys and entertainment is important to prevent bullying between coop mates, egg eating, feather picking, and obesity.
To help your chickens find joy in their chicken surroundings, consider making a swing for their entertainment. Chickens love toys.
When chickens are confined to their coops and chicken run, they scratch and tear up their space in a short amount of time. When they run out of bugs to scavenge and grass to eat, you may end up with sad or bored ladies. No one wants that!
Which brings us to providing the girls entertainment on the cheap. After much research and realizing that I wanted a farmtastic swing that would work nicely in their coop, I decided to forego on a plastic version from Amazon. Instead I found the perfect piece of wood in the barn and convinced the Texan, aka my handy husband, to help me make swings with what we already had at hand.
DIY Chicken Swings
To make a DIY chicken swing, all you need are a few simple things you probably already have at home in your scrap pile. Your ladies will love it!
Items You Will Need
- Thick Branch or scrap wood piece (we recycled a wooden tool handle in the barn to make 3 swings)
- Saw to Cut Wood
- Rope (two long pieces)
- Scissors
- Drill (we used our cordless drill)
- Measuring Tape or Yardstick
Getting Started Building
First, cut your wood piece to the desired swing length. We cut our wood pieces to 20 inches but some people prefer a 36 inch swing. We ended making 2 swings for our older hens and 1 swing for the pullets from a wooden handle we found in the barn.
Next, make sure your wood piece is safe for the ladies. Sand down any rough spots that may injure your girls.
Finally, drill a hole through each end of your wood piece big enough to pull the rope through the holes. Now you are ready for the rope attachment.
Install your Ladies Swing
For the rope lengths, measure the height you will be hanging the swing from. Hanging the swing 18-24 inches off the ground is preferable. The swing should be hung higher than the height of your chickens heads! Safety for your eggstraordinary egg layers during playtime is important. I hung Loretta and Emmy Lou’s swing 18 inches above the ground.
Make sure to include extra length to your rope piece to tie or attach the swing to the chicken coop roof.
Pull the rope pieces through the wood piece and tie a secure knot above and below the drilled hole.
Hang your swing in a safe spot in your coop. If hanging 2 swings, make sure you leave enough space so the swings will not become entangled.
Tada, your ladies now have a fun new place to perch in their coop! Keep in mind that most chickens will not be very eager try out their new toy. You will probably have to encourage them to try their new swing out. Sometimes older chickens do not fall madly in love with their new playground toy like younger chickens will. My pullets are definitely more curious.
Show The Ladies How to Use the Swing
Pick your most friendly chicken and gently place her on the swing. Treats will definitely help with this process! I used dried mealworms to warm the girls up to their new coop toy. Mealworms are very high in protein and a good treat for egg layers. Only give a teaspoon of worms per bird per day because too much could be taxing on their little kidneys.
Not all chickens will love a chicken swing. I have learned it is NOT for every chicken. The older ladies are not the least bit interested. That’s okay. The good news is that goodwill and yard sales will usually have inexpensive gently used colorful toddler toys such as pianos and xylophones that will provide great entertainment for our barnyard friends.
Happy Chickens are chickens who lay, and these pullets are super happy girls as you can see! Yes, those are golf balls in their nesting box. I was skeptical at first of this golf ball egg laying trick, however the girls lay their eggs by the golf balls daily and are now consistent young egg layers.
If you are lucky, your chicks will love their new playground toy and you can enjoy watching them swing.
This is an inexpensive and simple project that you can make from things you already have at hand. Hopefully your flock will love a chicken swing as much as these pullets do!
Changing Lives Every Day
~ Dawn
Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube Channel and Soundcloud Podcast for all things health and fitness. We can also connect on Social Media through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Linkedin.
