My chickens are crazy for styrofoam!

[KayP]

We discovered it this summer when a "noodle" fell next to the pool. Then the other day the girls got out into the front yard and I saw them dive for a packing peanut that had blown into the garden! Beware. I don't think my chickens will ever be considered organic with an addiction like that.

 

[BeccaOH]

Very true. They just adore pecking foam insulation on the walls.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

My chickens think that they are eating the best food on earth! I swear, I can't keep them out of it! If they see even a hint of it they will RUN to get their rotten little beaks on it to eat the stuff.
I thought I would never keep them beat out of the shed long enough to cover the walls of blue sheet insulation. They just kept coming in to peck at it. I was worried I was working so fast that I actually might close one up in the walls with the stuff.
What is it with them, anyhow???

 

[LynneP]

You have to be very careful, too, or the birds can become impacted (can be fatal) and they suffer from lost nutrition. Not a toy. Though convenient, styrofoam should always be sheathed, rodents like it to but that's another story. And keep string away from chickens, can bind tongues or be swallowed and twist in gut.

 

[Teach97]

I have heard of folks using it to stop feather plucking and pecking on each other...anyone else heard of this?...

 

[crooked stripe]

I wouldn't doubt that it would stop pecking. I gives them something to keep them busy. I found a good way to keep them busy is hanging a head of cabbage from a string. I buy them a head a week and they go nuts. The longer the string the more it swings and the longer it lasts.

 

[Maryallison77]

Funny how they go after the packing peanuts.... The whole time I was reading it I did worry about how they would digest that though. I have read the cabbage thing before and plan on doing that

 

[JennsPeeps]

I noticed the other day that the cover over my outdoor faucet is all torn up. I think the chickens attacked it.