They will eat a earring, on your ear. Has not happened to me but I read that it has happened. I had my pearls on & saw one I was holding eyeballing my earring.They are babies and will try to eat anything they can put in their mouth's, like human babies try to. I've read stories right here on BYC's where chicken's will eat paint, styrofoam, screw's, etc. Why wouldn't they try to eat "plastic" also? What I mean is that a beak can break those, and then the chick can eat it.