EATING STYROFOAM....HARMFUL?

[animal nut]

This weekend our coop got really cold so we went out and insulated with 2" styrofoam. The problem is that are baby chicks pecked and eat some of it. We thought we had everything covered up or out of reach but, the were like magnets to this stuff. Is it going to hurt them?

 

[herechickchick]

Mine ate some expandable foam insulation once. They were all OK. I tell you they can find anything, it is amazing how good they are at getting into things they should not.

 

[Cuban Longtails]

No, it won't hurt them unless they broke off a piece too large to pass through their system.

They are probably bored, but then again chicks are naturally inquisitive!

 

[Buff Hooligans]

A quote from Nifty-Chicken, the Administrator of BYC:

"I gave up on my birds knowing what was best for them when I caught them all eating a block of Styrofoam pellets."


But I believe all his Styrofoam eating chickens are still with us...

 

[gritsar]

If it was harmful, my chickens would have been dead a long time ago!

Kitty used to have a 3" thick styrofoam "house" to get out of the winter weather. Now thanks to the chickens it has holes in it the size of dinner plates. No wonder Kitty hates the chickens.

 

[crtrlovr]

It occurs to me that in the world of chickens, styrofoam is equivalent to popcorn...

 

[crtrlovr]

I should have added that in my infinite wisdom I bought several sheets of the Dow styrofoam insulation to completely line their original coop (a 10'x10' kennel overwrapped with small opening poultry wire, sides and top). They ate HUGE holes in it everywhere they could reach.

I'm sure it's not good for them, but I'm really glad it wasn't deadly, or I'd have NO chickens. They are now in a shed which my husband somewhat begrudingly sacrificed so they could be warm, dry, and styorfoam free...

Bless his heart!

 

[Red]

My older chickens once found styrofoam in the garden one day and went crazy for it - they loved the cracking noise it made when they pecked it! Last batch of chicks i hatched out went crazy for the newspaper in their brooder - ignored their mirror, ball, perches etc and instead decided to rip their newspaper bedding into tiny pieces

 

[silkiechicken]

Quote:
Same here! The barn cats had inverted styrofoam cooler houses and well, the chickens would take a few bites of it after eating all the cat food and flipping the cat water! Poor cats, abused by chickens.

 

[setter4]

I insulated mine with styrofoam too...the next day I wnt and got plywood and covered it all...<sigh>. Why is NOTHING ever easy?