Chickens with styrofoam addiction

[Petra Pancake]

I'm not sure any more if I've got chickens or a special kind of feathered locusts. For about 3 months I've had my chickens free ranging in our back garden. I sometimes wondered why there were pieces of styrofoam lying around but thought they just dug up some old stuff from the ground. Then, one morning I heard a strange rasping noise. When I checked, I saw my flock lined up against the wall of our house like people sitting in a bar. They were chomping away at the wall! That is, they were pulling out the insulation stuff and eating it. Even the baby chicks! They must have beem doing that for some time already, there is quite a bit missing. In order to save our house and the health of my chickens I locked them in their run for 2 days now. (They had been in that run all winter just fine). Today I saw that the roof of part of the coop was all white and shiny... they had pecked away the outer layer in order to reach the styrofoam underneath. In winter they never did anything like that. They had also damaged part of a wall and caved out the styrofoam there. They seem to be addicted to it. No interest in layers feed, just "styrofoam", stuffing their faces with it as if it was the most delicious thing on earth! Is there any way to stop this or do I just have to break down the coop and rebuild it with "inedible" materials? ( What if they take a liking to concrete next?? Only half joking)...

 

[lazy gardener]

Yep, styrofoam is quite the treat. Ever tried it? Perhaps it's pretty tasty with a bit of butter and salt, perhaps add some cheese flavoring, and you could package it and sell it as the next junk food treat! IMO, the only way to keep them from eating it is to cover it with something that they CAN'T eat.

 

[Fanci Feathers Marans]

Hotpick. Tastes like fire. Comes in spray applicator.

 

[AquaDuck]

Oh yeah, they love it! But it's not particularly good for them, as they fill up the stomach with nothing. I'm sorry to say, there's no way to keep them off it once they got a taste of it...
Can you cover the styrofoam with plywood, tough plastic, tarp or something the like? As long as it's covered by something, doesn't matter what, it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Petra Pancake]

Thanks to all. I'll try to cover it with something inedible, tarp maybe, or plastic. However, the insulation mat on the roof of the coop had already a thin paint-like plastic coating over the styrofoam - they must have spotted a crack in a corner, widened it and then eaten the whole thing up from there.
Does anyone know how long it takes for the chickens to get rid of toxic substances in their body? We've stopped eating the eggs in the meantime - who knows what's in all that insulation material... When will they likely be "safe" again?

 

[AquaDuck]

Thanks to all. I'll try to cover it with something inedible, tarp maybe, or plastic. However, the insulation mat on the roof of the coop had already a thin paint-like plastic coating over the styrofoam - they must have spotted a crack in a corner, widened it and then eaten the whole thing up from there.
Does anyone know how long it takes for the chickens to get rid of toxic substances in their body? We've stopped eating the eggs in the meantime - who knows what's in all that insulation material... When will they likely be "safe" again?

The styrofoam will pass through the system in a few days, and when it has, whatever was in it will be gone from the chickens too. Give them plenty of water, sand to help their digestion and maybe some fruit and veggies that has volume, and can help pass things along.

 

[Petra Pancake]

Alright, will feed them that. I do hope the styrofoam from our house wall hasn't been treated with flame retardants, synthetic glue or other strange chemicals that accumulate and stay in the body (the chickens' and ours)

 

[rosemarythyme]

( What if they take a liking to concrete next?? Only half joking)...

One of mine eats concrete... thankfully she's mostly lost interest in it now that there's grass and other more interesting things to eat!

 

[lazy gardener]

Re: chicken eating concrete. Does she have access to grit? Wondering if that might make a difference.

 

[rosemarythyme]

My chickens have a cup of grit available 24/7, this particular chicken just seems to prefer destroying concrete instead (which happens to be the concrete set around the run posts). She doesn't try to eat any bigger pieces and it doesn't seem to have affected her health, but of course I'd rather she not do it!