Pullets pecking at their tarp; LOL

[Hip Hillbilly Acres]

Ya think they are getting food, miniscule food????

 

[Chicken poppy]

I know under my tarp it was full of tiny bugs like pot worms, worms, pill bugs, etc.
Maybe they’re trying to find some bugs

 

[southwestclucker]

mine love to chase the raindrops and drink them off a clear shower curtain, it's like a video game to them

 

[sourland]

There may be small insects on the tarp.

 

[Sally PB]

Or maybe they are pecking peep holes?

 

[Chicken poppy]

mine love to chase the raindrops and drink them off a clear shower curtain, it's like a video game to them

Mine do that as well.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Mine obsessively peck the dirt that splashes up in the rain off of any and all tarps and other surfaces that it happens to.


More recently, though, between HPAI concerns and hawks worrying my flock, I've had to keep them in a smaller than usual enclosure with cover to protect them. Well, one edge of their run is made up of a line of other pens that I keep my extra roosters in, and to keep the weather out of the roosters' pens I have that side of those pens tarped. One day, I noticed a hole that had been in one of those tarps for a while looked bigger than I remembered. Thought it was weird, but probably my imagination. A few days later, that tarp had nearly completely disappeared up to about 2 foot from the ground, roughly as high as my hens can reach to peck it. They ate the tarp. So just keep that in mind if they're really fixated on pecking there, they may be getting a little more than just dirt or tiny bugs!