Eating peat moss

[Jlgonzo]

Even though our coop and covered run is sand, we recently created a dust bath in a plastic box with a mixture of sand and peat moss. We were not noticing them bathing much recently, so we thought giving them a designated spot that is deeper and has peat moss would be good. I know many people use just peat moss in their dust bath. We are not sure if they have used it for a dust bath, but they love to just eat the peat moss out of it. We can watch them doing it as well as noticing it in the color of their poop. Since ours do not free range this is their only access to something other than the sand, grit, oyster shells and feed. Is it ok for them to just eat it? It does seem to keep them entertained, which is nice.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I would assume the average chicken consumes some dirt daily. There's probably some vitamins and minerals in it they get. What else are you feeding? I don't know if repeated consumption of peat moss will cause any problems. My guess is probably not. Do they have access to soil? You could try some clean sod clumps for them to dig and forage through to see if that helps.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Mine enjoy snacking on peat moss and also enjoy rolling in it, usually both at the same time. I figure it's fine as long as they don't eat an excessive amount, for example, mine will always polish off their morning feed first and check out the dry feeder over eating peat moss.

 

[chickens really]

I'm not familiar with your winters..If forage greens are lacking you can give them Romain Lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, cucumber, and some Alfalfa cubes or hay. The peat moss won't hurt them though.

 

[Jlgonzo]

I'm not familiar with your winters..If forage greens are lacking you can give them Romain Lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, cucumber, and some Alfalfa cubes or hay. The peat moss won't hurt them though.

We are in North Alabama, so it gets cold but nothing too bad and we may have one snow per year for a few days.
We have way too many predators, so our girls do not free range. We have been giving them cabbage, lettuce, kale and Swiss chard. Do you have a recommended amount to give? We tend to bring in several leaves twice a day to let them peck tear pieces off and we hang a cabbage ball every so often. We have 8 girls that are 25 weeks. Almost all are laying.

 

[MissChick@dee]

They have access to grit right? Not just the sand.

 

[Jlgonzo]

They have access to grit right? Not just the sand.

Yes I have poultry grit sized for layers and oyster shells in each in their own dispenser.

 

[chickens really]

We are in North Alabama, so it gets cold but nothing too bad and we may have one snow per year for a few days.
We have way too many predators, so our girls do not free range. We have been giving them cabbage, lettuce, kale and Swiss chard. Do you have a recommended amount to give? We tend to bring in several leaves twice a day to let them peck tear pieces off and we hang a cabbage ball every so often. We have 8 girls that are 25 weeks. Almost all are laying.

I only gave mine a couple of things twice a week. You could also do supervised free range as you sit with them for an hour or so a day. The great thing about animals is they have no concept of time..