Styrafoam for Quail?

[Robo]

The breeder who sold me my first quail gave his birds a chunck of styrafoam for them to pick at. He says that it will keep them from picking feathers. I gave some to my birds and they didn't eat it, they just pecked it down to nothing. Does anybody else heard of this? They seem to have a ton o fun with it.

 

[Whitehouse Quail]

Won't that clog up their digestion? I personally wouldn't do it.

 

[Robo]

It looks like they just carry it around in circles and dip it in the water. They also toss it around in their sand box. I didn't see one eat it, they just pecked it and then kicked it around.

 

[JJMR794]

Never Heard Of Any Such Craziness

I Realy Havent Had Any Problems With Coturnix And Pecking.... Oh Sure The Occaisional Jab Here And There But Never Anything Harmful... (bobs Is A Way Different Story) But I Too Would Be Concerned About Ingestion Of The Material... Not To Meantion The Gawd Awful Mess Its Bound To Make... Its Quite A Perplexing Idea Robo...

 

[Robo]

I don't have pecking problems either, but I just wanted to see what they would do. I guess they won't get it anymore, but I think I will get some of the stuff I saw at the feed store. It is oyster shell and alfalfa cubes held together with molasses. It has a styrafoam core so that reminded me of it.

 

[Rozzie]

No way on earth I'd give it to them. Can't be healthy for them to ingest that. Even if they don't deliberately eat it, they are bound to ingest some of it while pecking it apart.

Give them some cuttlebone, or maybe a flock block. Flock blocks might not be perfect, but it'd better than a block of styrofoam.

 

[Denninmi]

My chickens and ducks both got into the foam insulation around their boxes, thanks to my poor carpentry skills. And, they ate a lot of it, fast. It was the pink Owens Corning foamboard, not the white styrofoam. When the ducks did it, I was sure they would get sick or die or something, but it didn't seem to hurt them one bit. So, I was a little less freaked when the chickens did it.

But, I would never intentionally let them do it. I would think it could have the potential to cause bowel impaction or similar problems.

There must be other things you could give them to occupy their time. Mine seem to enjoy cabbage leaves -- what about giving them a whole head of cabbage to work on? Potatoes, sweet potatoes, apples, pears, zucchini all might work as well.