Hens eating glass!

[lablover]

I have 5 hens and rooster that free range during the day. They go where ever they want to, and happen to wander alongside the road. There they have been picking up pieces of glass and eating it! I know that they are passing it because it is all over the bottom of the coop floor. There, they eat it again. This can't be good, so.... ?

 

[sumi]

Clean up the coop floor and keep your chickens off the road. Glass is not food and should not be ingested. A sharp piece could wreak havoc in their crops and intestines.

 

[darkmatter]

What's the difference between sand/rocks and glass? Free range chickens eat pebbles for their gizzard to help grind up food. I always look at the contents of the gizzard when I butcher my chickens and have found many polished rocks of various types, I once found a glass marble that had been reduced to a third of its original size with a frosted appearance.

 

[theoldchick]

I think a car will kill them before the shattered glass will.

 

[sumi]

What's the difference between sand/rocks and glass? Free range chickens eat pebbles for their gizzard to help grind up food. I always look at the contents of the gizzard when I butcher my chickens and have found many polished rocks of various types, I once found a glass marble that had been reduced to a third of its original size with a frosted appearance.

Rocks and sand won't cut you. Little bits of glass, even windscreen glass, could.

 

[kian]

Glass is a bad idea (of course you're not intentionally letting them eat it!). We had a ton of shattered glass all over our back yard when we moved in here and we are STILL finding bits 2 years later. So when the chickens are out we're extra vigilant in the areas that had the glass. They'll unearth all sorts of things and shiny bits of glass are so tempting to try! You are very fortunate that your chickens are ok, but I would clean out the coop and restrict their foraging. Can't be too careful

 

[kuntrygirl]

A few years ago, I had a hen who found some shattered glass in the yard. I found her eating the shattered pieces of glass. The next day after work, I found her dead. :/