Last Updated: 15/09/2025
How to keep your chickens happy: A vet's guide
A happy chicken is an enriched chicken! Our vet's guide is full of easy ideas to keep your flock active and engaged. Learn how to use foraging games, DIY coop upgrades, dust baths, and even music to encourage natural behaviours, reduce boredom, and improve your chickens' overall welfare.
Author: Dr Emilee Lay BVSc BSc (Vet) Hons
Reading Time: 5 minutes - short read
Like any pet, chickens require enrichment to keep those bird brains engaged! Providing environments that allow your chickens to display instinctive behaviours can significantly improve their overall health and welfare - and it is super easy to do! Exploring their environment by pecking, scratching, sunbathing, foraging, preening and dust bathing - these are all signs of a content chicken.
There is saying that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach - well this certainly holds true for chickens. Food based enrichment can help keep your chickens active, reduce obesity - and may have some benefits on egg production at home. In addition, a bit of coop renovation and styling can certainly bring out the best in your hens. Don't forget to rotate through these enrichment ideas regularly to keep your chickens on their toes!
In this article
Foraging
The majority of your chickens' feed should be a formulated diet. However, treats in the form of fruits, vegetables, insects and seeds can be given to provide variety. It is important when using food as enrichment, to ensure that you avoid harmful, illegal or toxic foods. These include:
- Human food: In some states it is illegal to feed food producing animals, swill. Swill includes any meat, offal, or animal derived material.
- Long grass or grass clippings: Chickens generally peck the top of the grass shoots, but if given long grass or grass clippings this can cause an obstruction of the crop.
Check out our handy Chicken Feeding Guide and Backyard Chicken Guide for more information on toxic plants and feeding scraps to chickens.
Foraging ideas
- Scattering treats throughout their enclosure, or if they free range in a patch of grass
- Using food dispensing toys like KONGs or puzzle feeders and filling them with fruit and veggies
- Freezing corn or peas in a large block of ice, to keep your chickens cool in the summer. Watch them peck away as it melts!
- Tying vegetables to twine and hanging it in the coop
- Create a vegetable pinata and hang a whole head of broccoli or an entire cabbage
- Place straw bales in their enclosure and scatter food around and on them
Recommended products for foraging
Environmental enrichment
Chickens are naturally curious creatures, so adding a few new features to their coop and run is an easy way to provide hours of fun and enrichment for your flock.
The Day Spa (Dust Bath)
While they don't need grooming like a dog or cat, chickens benefit greatly from a dust bath. This is an instinctive behaviour that helps them clean their feathers and deter pests. You can easily make one by filling an old tyre or a shallow ditch with a mix of fine sand and soil. For extra fun, turn it into a foraging box by hiding a few tasty treats inside.
Playground Fun (Swings)
Swings are becoming a popular addition to chicken coops for a reason! They provide a different vantage point and help entertain your flock. You can find purpose-built chicken swings or easily fashion your own by hanging a sturdy tree branch from a solid point in their run.
Recycled Jungle Gyms
Get creative by recycling old items into a playground for your flock. Children's play furniture or even cat trees are fantastic for chickens to explore. These structures provide different levels for roosting and hidey-holes for shyer hens, which can help keep the peace in the pecking order. Just be sure to add a non-slip surface like fake grass to help them grip.
Sensory Entertainment (Music & Mirrors)
Engage your chickens' senses with sound and sight. Some studies suggest that playing classical music can help reduce stress in hens. For a more interactive option, hang a toy xylophone and sprinkle treats on it to encourage them to peck out a tune! Chickens can also be fascinated by their own reflection, so adding a small, shatter-proof mirror to the coop can be a simple source of entertainment.
Learn more about what Chicken Behaviours Mean.
Recommended products for environmental enrichment
FAQs
Keeping your flock entertained doesn't need to be complicated or expensive. By providing simple and creative opportunities for your chickens to forage, play, and explore, you are supporting their natural instincts and greatly improving their quality of life. Have fun trying these ideas and enjoy watching your happy, healthy chickens thrive.
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History
Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space and we update our articles when new information becomes available.
Thu 11 Sep 2025
Edited by Dr Gillian Hill BVSc (Hons)Dr Emilee Lay BVSc BSc (Vet) Hons
Veterinarian
Dr. Emilee graduated from the University of Sydney in 2018 with a Bachelor of Veterinary Science and Bachelor of Science (Veterinary Studies) and as a student worked for a number of years as a small animals and exotics nurse in clinics across Sydney. She is currently a practicing small animal and exotic vet along the Coast. Emilee holds a special passion for avian and exotic medicine (bunnies being her favourite patients), as well as animal behavioural medicine!
