Woman Makes Chicken 'Enrichment' Exercise Wheel With Hanging Cucumbers And Corn For Chickens To Exercise

Sep 17, 2020 by apost team

Everyone always says that chickens are more intelligent than we would think. After all, for an animal that walks around and pecks at the ground all day, we honestly do not expect much out of them. Yet, chickens have enough mental judgment and functionality to "play" with toys that are given to them.

You may have heard of treats frozen in ice that are given to chickens during the heat of the summer. This allows them to interact and use their intelligence to peck the toys out of the ice block. One chicken owner took this concept to the next level and created an enrichment wheel for her chickens to interact with. Alison McNeice is the owner of Featherheads Bird Rescue in Hobart, Tasmania, so she knows a thing or two about chickens.

While chickens do not interact with humans as other domesticated animals do, that does not mean they are not capable of critical thinking. According to Inner Strength, McNeice set out in hopes of developing a tool that would stimulate the minds of her chicken rescues and keep them entertained. Finally deciding on a wheel-shaped toy that would provide an opportunity for interaction and critical thinking skills to be utilized, Alison set out with a plan to execute.

Her concept included the creation of a wheel that would move around in circles with treats on the arms. This would force the chickens to get in movement and exercise as they attempted to reach the treats time and time again. Eventually, getting stronger, the chickens would be able to track the treats down and pluck them off to enjoy.

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Proper space to move around and scratch is crucial to the well-being of chickens. Many of the birds in McNeice's rescue have not often had this opportunity. To make up for this lack of physical activity and to promote the health of her birds moving forward, McNeice put her imagination to good use. Using what appears to be the base and legs of a side table, this rescue owner built a rotating wheel with arms that stuck out to the sides.

From each arm dangled a treat that chickens typically enjoy. In this case, McNeice used cucumbers and corn. As the chickens peck at the treats, the wheel rotates. This means they must chase after the moving treat or be quick enough to peck a few bits off. Nonetheless, these birds are constantly kept in motion, which is exactly what this toy was designed to do.

Typically, when we hear about rescue organizations they are geared more toward dogs, cats, horses, and other larger animals. Birds are a category of rescues that often go overlooked. Yet, it appears that the refuge McNeice sought to provide to these animals is more than we could have ever imagined.

If you liked this story, show it to your friends and consider joining together to make some creative toys like this for a local animal rescue center. After all, we all have a part to play in making an animal's life better. And don't forget to let us know what you think: Have you ever seen anything like this before?