my pullets ate styrofoam

[bobd]

this after noon I saw my 5 month old pullets eating styrofoam. will they be ok or will they die?

 

[emys]

They will probably be OK, but make sure they have plenty of grit to help them move it through.

 

[bobd]

thank you sooooooo much I was so worried

but Is grit oyster shells and is rocks grit

 

[jjthink]

Oyster shells are for calcium and they are not grit.

Grit are little stones/rocks, yes.

They need both.


They will probably be okay but make sure they can't access styrofoam anymore.

JJ

 

[klevesque]

Grit is small rocks used for digestion. Oyster shell is crushed oyster shells used for added calcium.

 

[RECE*2C*]

one of my chicks at some a few weeks ago and he was fine
i think she will be ok

 

[TheChickenShrink]

To be honest, blue styrofoam has been an important part of the diet of our new pullets last year, and although we tried to put it out of reach, they somehow always managed to find more of it. Some days, they ate so much of the stuff that their poop had a weird bluish color. We realized they had an addiction, so we scheduled a meeting with the whole flock to confront the young ones. Obviously, it took them a while to get over the denial. But they finally gave in and accepted to go into rehab. It was a long and grueling process, but they finally came out of it. Well, most of them, I guess. Sadly, we recently caught a few of them still indulging in their craving for blue styrofoam. We suspect some of them are keeping a secret stash somewhere. But we now have an insider working for us in the flock. It is costing us a bundle in corn but, sooner or later, the wisegirls will be busted.

So you see, if the stuff was toxic, all of our young pullets would be long dead. And trust me, they are all mighty healthy.

Cheers!

 

[mschickychick]

Excuse me. I'm still laughing at the last post. Mine eat it every chance they get and they are just fine.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Oyster shell is not nearly as hard as granite, but it's still a good deal harder than styrofoam so it can and does work as grit.

Chickens have some sort of weird fascination with styrofoam as they quite often eat it. Can't say that I've ever seen it hurt them, but it's not doing them any good either so it's best to keep it away from them as much as you can.

 

[zDoc]

Quote:
Hilarious!

I caught one of mine banging a piece of rubber tubing on the ground and she did not want to give that puppy up. I felt like one of the hens chasing her around to get it from her.

I was afraid she may not be able to pass that thing. It was a small little 3 inch piece of tubing, she must of thought it was a worm.