What the heck? Tons of slugs in the coop? (This isn’t a problem, right?)

[NC_Quail]

Tonight I realized quite late at night that I forgot to close up the coop for our free ranging chickens. We’ve just had a big rainstorm, but I was still surprised when I got down there and found…a ton of slugs. There must’ve been at least thirty huge slugs; on the feeder mostly, but also on the walls of the run, the ground, etc. Has anyone seen this before? What the heck is going on?? As bugs go, I don’t really mind slugs, but this is bizarre. I’ve found slugs in the coop at night before and they always disappear before daylight, so I assume that they don’t pose any danger to the flock. I’m mostly just curious why this happens. I thought slugs like to eat plants.

 

[GodLovesU]

I find them in our carport all the time. Are your chickens trying to eat them? If you want them gone you can put a border of salt around the coop.

 

[TOMTE]

Slugs are generalists. They'll eat live plants, decaying matter, worms, animal waste, animal carcasses, fungi... And they'll stay active later into the day if there's enough moisture to keep them hydrated. They're not a problem generally, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Altairsky]

My open air coop gets invaded by slugs. They love munching on chicken feed and chicken poop. There is nothing I can do to keep them out since they squeeze trough the wire. But they're not really a problem. Sometimes they crawl on my broodies at night and the following morning I find my broodies covered in slime.

 

[NC_Quail]

I find them in our carport all the time. Are your chickens trying to eat them? If you want them gone you can put a border of salt around the coop.

No, the slugs are gone by the time I check on them in the morning. The chickens always seem to ignore slugs anyway.

 

[NC_Quail]

Slugs are generalists. They'll eat live plants, decaying matter, worms, animal waste, animal carcasses, fungi... And they'll stay active later into the day if there's enough moisture to keep them hydrated. They're not a problem generally, I wouldn't worry about it.

Thanks for the explanation! I guess they are interested in the chicken food. They’re not hurting anything that I could tell, it just weirded me out a bit.

 

[NC_Quail]

My open air coop gets invaded by slugs. They love munching on chicken feed and chicken poop. There is nothing I can do to keep them out since they squeeze trough the wire. But they're not really a problem. Sometimes they crawl on my broodies at night and the following morning I find my broodies covered in slime.

Oh…ew. At least I know someone else has seen the same thing with slugs!