Chickens eating pine shavings

[vantain]

A couple of weeks ago, I had a hen with crop impaction issues. I'm still not entirely sure what the issue was, and it may have solely been due to the soft shelled egg issues she was having trouble passing.

In any case, I have some concerns that my hens eat pine shavings. I have witnessed them doing this repeatedly, though I do see them eat their normal food as well. Is this a known issue, and should I be worried about this behavior?

They have free choice Layena crumbles, granite grit, oyster shell, and whatever they can find on the ground in the run, which does include some pine shavings. I don't give them many treats, though I may give them a small amount of meal works once or twice a week.

I'm kind of concerned for the one hen I have who has had a lot of trouble recently with soft shelled eggs. I'm wondering if her problem is actually that she is eating too much of the pine shavings and sand in the run, and not eating enough of her normal feed. I assume that could lead to a loss of proper nutrients, and may be what is behind her soft shelled egg issues. Thoughts?

 

[BYCforlife]

How big are your wood shavings? If they're small, they could possibly be mistaken for food. I have seen chickens test wood shavings, but only when I put in new ones. Besides that, I'm not sure.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Mine eat pine shavings but in small amounts. I suppose it's possible that she's nutritionally starving herself if that's all she ate, but is she really eating mostly litter materials? Or is it just a little bit, along with food?

Is your coop/run flooring just shavings and sand, or are there other materials in the mix?

 

[vantain]

Mine eat pine shavings but in small amounts. I suppose it's possible that she's nutritionally starving herself if that's all she ate, but is she really eating mostly litter materials? Or is it just a little bit, along with food?

Is your coop/run flooring just shavings and sand, or are there other materials in the mix?

Coop floor is pine shavings. Run was about 4-6" pine shavings through the winter, but I racked out most of that and it is basically bare ground again with some pine shavings. I'm considering building up the run floor again with the pine shavings from the coop when I clean that.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Run looks pretty good. You wouldn't happen to have a coop cam would you? I know it's not possible for everyone to sit and stare at their chickens for extended periods of time, but I am curious as to how many pine shavings they're eating compared to their food.

How old is the hen with issues and was she laying normal eggs before? Is food out there 24/7 or only during daylight (if only during daylight, when do you put it out?) Just trying to think of all possibilities, since I *doubt* she's preferring shavings over feed, but you never know...

 

[Fluffnut]

Nice run, btw What kind of food do you have?

 

[lutherpug]

Is it possible that one of your chickens is keeping others from using the feeder? I had this happen to an australorp who was being bullied away from the feeder by a RIR. She turned to eating sand in the coop and got a very impacted crop. This was in a flock of 3 birds with plenty of space. The issue disappeared when I added a 2nd feeder. Just another thing to think about.

 

[vantain]

Run looks pretty good. You wouldn't happen to have a coop cam would you? I know it's not possible for everyone to sit and stare at their chickens for extended periods of time, but I am curious as to how many pine shavings they're eating compared to their food.

How old is the hen with issues and was she laying normal eggs before? Is food out there 24/7 or only during daylight (if only during daylight, when do you put it out?) Just trying to think of all possibilities, since I *doubt* she's preferring shavings over feed, but you never know...

The hen in question is 11 months old. She was laying regularly up until a few weeks ago when the soft shelled eggs started. She is acting normally now, and I do see her at the feeder quite often. However, she has not layed an egg (soft shelled or otherwise) for over a week now.

They have Purina Layena available all day long in the run, along with free choice grit and oyster shell.

 

[vantain]

Nice run, btw What kind of food do you have?

Purina Layena

 

[vantain]

Is it possible that one of your chickens is keeping others from using the feeder? I had this happen to an australorp who was being bullied away from the feeder by a RIR. She turned to eating sand in the coop and got a very impacted crop. This was in a flock of 3 birds with plenty of space. The issue disappeared when I added a 2nd feeder. Just another thing to think about.

I have two pvc pipe feeders. One of the hens was trying to usurp the problem hens position in the pecking order, so it could be that. Things seem normal for them all lately though.