When they say that chickens are omnivores, they’re not kidding! Chickens will literally try to eat anything. If you’ve ever spent time watching your chickens peck around the chicken run, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
And for the most part, chickens will stay away from things that are not good for them. They might take a bite and quickly realize that they don’t want it.
But then there’s those times when chickens will just go after something they shouldn’t…and not stop!
Unfortunately, it seems like Styrofoam is one of those weird things that chickens will eat for some reason.
What To Do If Your Chicken Eats Styrofoam
If you witness your chickens eating Styrofoam, the first thing you need to do is remove the Styrofoam. I know this seems obvious, but in reality, it’s not always as easy as it might seem.
For example, when I was a kid growing up, my parents lined the inside of their chicken coop with Styrofoam panels to function as a type of insulation. It never was a problem until a few years later, a new chicken they acquired decided it would start pecking at and eating the foam panels.
As you can imagine, removing the foam panels and replacing them with something else was quite a bit of work. So…not always super easy to do. Now if it’s a random piece of Styrofoam lying around, get rid of it.
Next, the only thing you can really do is keep an eye on the chicken that at the Styrofoam. In most cases, the Styrofoam will pass through the chicken and come right out the other end.
Will Styrofoam Harm Your Chickens?
I’ve heard about a lot of cases where chickens have eaten Styrofoam, and lots of it, and nothing and I don’t think I’ve ever come across a case where a chicken has become seriously ill.
With that said, however, you’ll want to keep an eye on the chicken that ate the styrofoam for a few days and make sure that it passes through its system.
You also want to monitor the chickens behavior afterwards. If you notice it starting to act strange or especially become lethargic and isolate itself from the other chickens, then you’ll want to have your bird checked out by an aviary vet.
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