Chicken eating wet mud/dirt...?

[OG_SHAMOS]

I have a hen that likes to take water and drop it onto the dirt/ground to make it wet and than eat the wet dirt/mud.

Has anyone seen this kind of behavior before...? Is it normal...?

Concerns: Could there be some kind of vitamin/mineral/nutrition deficiency...?

My initial theory is that maybe there is some kind of vitamin/mineral deficiency and therefore why she likes to eat wet dirt in order to try and get the nutrients her body is craving.

Some caveats: This hen is laying and brooding a clutch of eggs. She is the only one in the flock that eats wet dirt. The feed I give her is not a 'complete' feed. I give her cracked corn mixed with some cooked rice and some chick starter mash. I also provide her oyster shells for calcium at free choice.

Help...???

 

[nminusyplusm]

Why are you not giving all your chickens a nutritionally complete diet?

 

[drumstick diva]

Poor chicken eating mud to get minerals(?) missing from rice & cracked corn

 

[RWise]

Maybe she just likes her grit moist,,, run water on the ground, my girls come running to grab floating things, they dig in the mud,, I see my dogs digging and eating mud in certain places.
I myself would not worry about this, she has found something she wants or needs, let her have it
My birds run the pasture, I only toss out a hand full of whole corn when I gather eggs (winter is another story). Other then a water source they get everything they need from the pasture..

 

[CalBickieMomma]

I know I’m super late to this thread, but my Hattie does this, too. She will stand by her water bucket and dip her beak in with the purpose of dripping it into the sand to eat it. All my chickens love to peck at wet sand when I spray water on it, but Hattie is the only one who I’ve seen create wet sand on purpose to eat it.

My chickens are fed an All Flock blend with a little chicken scratch mixed in, as well as treats (fruits and veggies and greens) from time to time. They do not free range because we have dogs I don’t trust as well as other predators. They also have full access to oyster shells.

I think Hattie just likes her dirt/grit wet and am more intrigued by the fact that she figured out how to do it on her own.