Why is my Cornish eating paint?..Calcium/protein deficiency?

[kikster]

Well, the other day I could've sworn that there was a woodpecker on our house until I went to check things out and saw little Miss Snow White sitting in the living room window pecking away at the chipping paint in the window sill. She only paused for about 2 seconds to look back at me, before continuing on as if it were the most normal thing in the world. I was wondering if maybe she thinks that they're egg shells, since she seems to love them. She's always getting caught picking eggshells out of the compost (or any that happen to fall when my son takes the kitchen compost out). We do give them cooked shells, but we try to keep the compost covered because I didn't want them eating any raw shells. Well, she (and her sister Moonlight) seem to find them every time. And now this. Not only do I not want her eating paint (our home is pretty old, and I don't know if it has lead or not), but I don't want her flying up in my window, lol, to get it.

I'm wondering if this means that she's deficient in something, because she's always the one eating the weirdest things (like the astroturf that my son used to hang over the opening on the chicken pen and nests to keep them dark). We put glass eggs in the house because we're so scared of her becoming an egg eater (we caught them all munching on one once, but I think it was just broken in the vent of a pullet, since we never saw it again, and get plenty eggs still each day) but she's always messing with the glass/ceramic eggs, trying to peck at them...

 

[mike67909]

boredum? crazy chicken syndrome? I doubt its a deficiency.

 

[digitS']

Other than some "different" things they are getting on their own, you haven't told us what feed you are giving the chickens, Kikster.

If your hens have layer feed, they should be getting sufficient nutrients of all sorts.

If they are eating a grower or un-medicated starter, and have access to oyster shells, they are probably also getting sufficient nutrients.

There are certainly reasons to be concerned about laying hens eating lead paint chips (click here to read).

This is just one example of the birds getting into things that they really shouldn't. They will darn near eat anything. Most toxins don't kill the livestock that eat them. In this case, an environmental toxin that contaminates animal products used for human food, is an important matter.

Steve

 

[DaveD]

I don't know if they can taste it, but I do know that lead paint is very sweet, which is why kids used to eat it. If the chicks can taste sweet, maybe that is why they are eating it?

-David