Katy Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Our two girls seem to have developed a taste for their nest box bedding. When we first got them back in June we were using straw with no problem then all of a sudden after a few months we started to notice it was disappearing and eventually caught them in the act of eating it. It got to the point that they were getting through a nest box worth a day! We then swapped to shredded paper and everything was fine for a few weeks then they started to eat that as well. Now we are using aubiose, and again for the last few weeks its been fine, but this morning it's nearly all gone and with no other explanation we can only assume they are eating that too although we've not seen it happening so far. Any ideas why they might be doing this, could they be getting hungry in the eglu during the long nights? Also is eating the aubiose likely to cause a problem, I'm sure it can't be good for them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Anything long and straggly can cause problems because it can get tangled and impacted in their crops. I think there must be a thread somewhere else on here about this because I posted on a similar subject and I got the feeling there was another thread too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoice Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Not sure about any other threads but have you tried Medi-Bed by Dengie? It's chopped straw (Each piece about an inch or so) and has been sprayed and medicated so animals find it bitter to taste. Also Hemcore has citronella in it - maybe that would have the same effect. At the VERY least they are both less straggly. Fingers crossed, although considering the things chickens can put away given half the chance (I've seen a chook eat hedgehog poop and polystyrene!) I'm not sure they are that discerning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jill the potter Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Hedgehog poo!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoice Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 I know!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted January 23, 2009 Author Share Posted January 23, 2009 Not sure about any other threads but have you tried Medi-Bed by Dengie? It's chopped straw (Each piece about an inch or so) and has been sprayed and medicated so animals find it bitter to taste. Also Hemcore has citronella in it - maybe that would have the same effect. At the VERY least they are both less straggly. Fingers crossed, although considering the things chickens can put away given half the chance (I've seen a chook eat hedgehog poop and polystyrene!) I'm not sure they are that discerning! Trouble is I've struggled to find anywhere local that sells anything other than straw - I got the aubiose mail order, and paid the heavy price for delivery as a one off just to see what it was like. I might try giving it a quick spritz with some tea tree oil solution or anti peck spray and see if that has an effect though - I hadn't though of trying to make it taste bad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
