People are turning old bike tires into merry-go-rounds for chickens

We thought we’d seen it all with creative ways people who raise chickens find ways to keep their beloved flocks safe and even entertained. There’s the man who built a wild west-style town for his wife’s chickens. And, there are the slightly ironic (and maybe a little too on-the-beak) KFC-inspired coops others have constructed for their chickens. Now, there are people who just knew their birds needed a merry-go-round to keep things fun and interesting on the farm.

These aren’t the typical horse-adorned carousels we think of at amusement parks. Think of them more like the merry-go-rounds found on a kids’ playground. And this version is made from a bicycle wheel.

Facebook user and chicken farmer Shelly Collins shared photos of her chickens’ brightly colored merry-go-round and admitted her “ladies” are spoiled rotten.

Collins’ chicken merry-go-round has a tree stump as the base, with the wheel simply attached to the top for a smooth and balanced ride.

A quick look around social media shows other chicken keepers are hopping on board the chicken merry-go-round bandwagon. And why not? It looks pretty fun for them!

Julie Ann Sanderson from Texas shared her chickens’ merry-g0-round, which is larger and has a more intricate design than Collins’ version. She set up a playground with the merry-go-round at the center.

She shared a close-up shot of the wheel (with a chicken).

Over on the BYC (BackYardChickens) Facebook page, we get to see a video of the chicken having fun on one of the two merry-go-rounds built into their coop.

“My chickens love their merry-go-round,” posted Harold-Sheila Logan Jr. with the video. “I have happy chickens!”

And finally, on the CincyChickens page, there’s a video of one bird having the time of her life riding around on her merry-go-round!

But do chickens really need to be entertained?

It turns out chickens do actually get bored! According to a number of chicken-raising websites, it’s important to keep the flocks occupied otherwise the birds can cause a bit of mischief. When chickens get bored, they might start pecking at themselves or the other chickens, “an unhealthy habit that can cause feather loss, injury, and animosity among your chicken flock,” Backyard Chicken Coops reports.

If building a merry-go-round means happier chickens, we’re all for the fun!