Chickens eating foam insulation!

[KnitswithChickens]

I think my chickens have issues

They have started pecking and eating (although not too much) the pink foam insulation that is on the top of the inside of the coop. Do your chickens do this? I think I'll have to cover it over with a thin sheet of laminate, but I'll take any other suggestions if you've had experience with this. Thanks.

 

[patandchickens]

Sure, they all do that.

And yes, there is no cure other than to cover the insulation with something peck-proof. Thin plywood (can be scrounged) or fake panelling removed from somebody's 70s-era rec room (ditto) are probably the most common choices, but certainly other materials can work too. Not flexible plastic wrap or anything they can poke holes in, though. And not drywall either; even aside from other things making it less than well-suited for a coop, chickens peck/eat drywall too

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Lunachick]

Good idea to cover that up. They'll pick at and eat that stuff like popcorn. I can't put a styrofoam plate out with their snacks, cause after they're done with the food, they start on the plate! Silly girls.....

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I lost a Barred Rock to eating it so I try and keep it covered. They love the stuff and still try to get to it whenever possible. It is a chore to keep it covered when they like to pull at the edges of the walls to get it. I only have it in the tack room but they come in and I find them with their heads back behind some loose plywood. Rotten creatures!

 

[Heavy D]

Had to cover mine with some trim boards and 1/8 ply....
Amazing that they will eat pretty much anything....food or not.

 

[copefarms]

yeah chickens love any kind of insulation or styrofoam its their favorite

 

[nobodyherebutuschickens]

Quote:
We just recently put in some polystyrene foam insulation in our coop ceiling (out of pity for their chilled toes) and I came in to collect eggs the other day, and they're attacking it from the roosting poles! It sort of reminded me of Elf where he's eating the cotton balls at the doctor's office... We're working on covering it up, but they've already eaten enough to make me worried. Will the chickens be okay? How badly will the insulation mess with their systems?

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I still have a few that eat at it when they can slip in to get it. I have found chicks eating it too and so far I have not lost any more chickens to it. The barred Rock must have consumed a bunch because her crop was stuffed with it, though she could have eaten real food at any time. The hoppers stay full of grain.
I have heard that some people give their birds a bit to peck on to keep them occupied and not have them eating food constantly but I would not do it intentionally.
Hopefully yours will be okay.

 

[MrsADW]

oh I am so glad I came to look at this! I nearly died yesterday when I discovered that my ladies were eating insulation on the side of our house, my plan is to remove it today but holy yowzers.
Thank you! Glad I'm not the only one!

 

[jaj121159]

A good rule of thumb for anything in the coop within reach of your birds is to make it peck-proof or edible. Even outside make sure things like old paint isn't pealing from barns, you don't have old nails coming of out siding, etc.