Chickens are eating Styrofoam!!! HELP!!!

[thedoors5to1]

it seems every chicken i know likes styrofoam... i've always thought it was so strange, but now after being a part of byc i see its not just the crazy chickens around here.... its everywhere!
geesh i just dont get why the heck they like it so much.
ok... so i work in a greenhouse, its an organic salad farm.. and we have chickens and they are surrounded by nice greens of all kinds, and some styrofoam.. when and if a chicken escapes the pen when we put them out, these chickens will spend time hunting for the bits of styrofoam (or the big long peices) instead of eatting the salad which is everywhere and so much more accessible... it boggles my mind. i guess its like popcorn for them. either way i try to stop it cause i dont think people would enjoy its chemicals being in thier organic salad-fed chicken eggs....hehe

 

[California Ducken]

My chickens ate it too. I freaked and was on here searching and got alot of advise. Well everything was just fine. I took one to Pet emergency because she ate a big chunk (quarter size) and she is a banty hen. They said she will pass it but to give her oystershell and keep a watch. I did and she and the others were just fine.
Those darn chickens will eat anything that's interesting looking!
Good Luck.

Smiles & Clucks,
Keccia

 

[StupidBird]

Thank you so much! I just panicked after looking out and seeing that not only had the stupid birds eaten all the overgrown, wilting excess cabbage seedlings in a big flat, but nearly the entire styrofoam box and plastic liner.

Dang it! I couldn't believe how quickly the five stupid birds ate all that! I will be watching their crops and all closely, they already have extra grit and oyster shell. Sheesh, sure glad this sounds ok, I thought I'd killed them

 

[gamebirdsonly]

I have a chicken that we named garbage because she will eat any thing. I have seen her eat glass, plastic, styrofoam and who knows what else and she is healthy and happy.

 

[aveca]

Quote:
I went through the same thing, I replaced the plastic with an old curtian and used staples here and there (contractor staples) to nail it down for the winter and made sure I picked up any that fell out and threw those away.

Mine ate styrofoam used for ceilings that is blue that I was trying to insulate thier building to keep in cool in summer and heat in during winter..Had a peice of it leaning against the wall and you cant beleive the holes they picked in it just one day.

Im not sure , it cant be anything like good for them especially if they eat enough of it, but it was a year ago and they are all in good shape today..cant report any incidents on it, but as soon as you notice something like that remove it and watch for trouble. hopefully there wont be any.

 

[kayri]

I use pieces of hard pink styrofoam to insulate their coop with in the winter and I make sure that I cover every inch with tyvek otherwise they eat it. They love it so much I have to scare them off while I put up the insulation in the fall and take it down in the winter because they fight me to eat it. K.

 

[cmsjr57]

styrofoam will not hurt them at all, but they do love it! they ate the top off of a little foam incubator of mine. I managed to use the foam in a spray can to fix the incubator and the chickens fixed themselves!

 

[firedove]

Mine have eaten all kinds of stuff they shouldn't, styrofoam being one of the more mundane things. I've seen them scarf down broken glass shards, plastic shards, and even a few really old cigarette butts they unearthed somehow. It had been many years since someone who smoked had been living here. I got really worried when we planted our raised beds last year with potting soil and I came out the next afternoon to find the whole flock fighting over the yellow and white fertilizer balls in the soil! I was sure it would be curtains for at least some of them, but not even a tummy ache. They continued to eat, drink, and forage normally. We didn't notice any difference in the eggs either (although we didn't eat the first week's worth after the incident). Chickens must have an amazing digestive system which is a really good thing since they will eat anything they come across that will fit down the back of their beaks!

 

[sunnydt]

mine have eaten styrofoam too. sheesh, dont they have tastebuds?

 

[Randy]

I have heard of people throwing chunks of styrofoam in thier pens to prevent boredom picking.