Feeding Malaysian trumpet snails?

[eprouty]

I understand chickens love eating your average garden snail. I happen to have an aquarium with a MTS overpopulation problem and wondered if my chickens could be part of the solution. Would they be able to eat the snails whole, or crunch up the shell? Is this too much of a choking hazard?

 

[Nambroth]

That's a good question! MTS can have a very sharp shell (at the pointy end) and I don't know if this could cause problems for the chickens or not. I know I've seen mine eat things that I thought would be too 'sharp' and they had no ill effects. Maybe someone else has an answer as to 'what is too sharp'!

I noticed that my MTSs only get out of control when something is wrong in the tank; typically too many nitrates or a buildup of organic matter that I am missing (dead plant leaf debris, or just organic waste in the gravel, etc).

 

[Mala]

I don't have chickens so I can't speak from personal experice, but I do know MTS are the ONE snail that you cannot feed to puffer fish. Puffers have two constantly growing teeth and need hard food like snails to grind them down, but MTS will break puffer teeth. Puffers will have no problem with muscles or clam shells, but MTS are a no-go.

I would smash the MTS up so that their shells are closer in size to the grit your chickens would normally eat. But I would NOT feed them whole.

 

[ericatdallas]

I know this is old... but did anyone ever try this out?

I don't have MTS at the moment. I tore down all my tanks during my last move. I do NOT ever want them but I know sometimes it can be hard to avoid when you like aquatic plants.

So in the event that I end up with MTS one day I'd like to know if I can feed them to the chickens.