Psyllium

[saysfaa]

Thank you for this information! Very helpful!

pdw hasn't logged on in over a year so most likely won't respond

But, I would not just assume lower cholesterol means healthier chickens. Cholesterol does a LOT of important things in the body. Chickens who don't get a lot of treats shouldn't have cholesterol that is too high; if they do get a lot of treats, they will have other problems too.

It probably takes a while for it to cause problems, though, if it does cause problems. Depending on how low the cholesterol goes. And the age of the chickens.

 

[RoyalChick]

Yes you can give psyllium to chickens. A natural source of psyllium is plantains which my chickens eat regularly when they forage.
Psyllium can also help eliminate nasties in the gut - for example if your chicken swallows a foreign object - because it absorbs water to create a gel and can move things along inside the gel.
You have to be moderate in its use. It is worth putting some in water and watching what happens as it will give you a sense of how much water it absorbs to create a gel so you don’t exceed the poor chicken’s ability to contain it!
I have no idea about sand but I can imagine just like psyllium can help move along a foreign object (lead shot pellets for example) I imagine it might move sand along with it.