Psycho hens eating newspaper -

[ericka]

Just as I'd been suspecting for a few days now; I caught 2 of my hens feasting on newspaper.

They were ripping it apart and gobbling it down - quite a bit of it. I have since removed all newspaper from the coop but I'm concerned that they have been consuming ridiculous amounts of it for the last several days. Should I be worried?

 

[gritsar]

You might want to check each morning for a few mornings in a row to make sure their crops are emptying properly (if it really worries you) but I strongly suspect they'll be just fine.

My hens ate a box that was essentially a large styrofoam cooler with 2" thick walls, pretty much in a matter of days. They're fine.

Edited for spelling. crips? What the heck is a crips?

 

[sourland]

Eating of non food items in other species can be a sign of boredom. If you think that your set-up might be confining or boring to your chickens, there are things that you can do: among them are scattering grain in their bedding so that they scratch for it, hanging bird seed blocks or cabbage for them to peck at. To a lesser deegree such behavior may be linked to an inadequate diet; however, if you are feeding a commercial diet, I doubt that is the problem.