Solitary chicken - need advice

[chickenNutter]

Being an enviromental superhero, I had cavity wall insulation fitted last week in an attempt to save the planet from global warming. Unfortunately I picked a company with stupid workmen who smashed out the old air bricks and then started pumping in the filling - tiny polystyrene balls like beanbag filling which of course started pouring out of the vent holes in huge quantities before the blokes realised.

 

Equally unfortunately our garden is largely flowerbeds and gravel, and the filling is now all over the garden mixed in with the gravel. The minute I let the chickens out, they started eating the balls as they look like snail eggs, so I have had to shut them back in the eglu run.

 

We have tried to see if we could pick it out, but it is in huge quantities, all the way through the gravel and flower beds, it is like trying to get 10,0000000 needles out of a haystack. We even took a vacuum cleaner out with a stocking over the tube and tried sucking some up, but it is impossible, there is just too much. I am now in a position where I am unlikely ever to be able to let the hens free range again!

 

Do we have any vets on the forum? If I let them continue to eat the balls will they soon realise they are not food and give up? Or will they stuff and kill themselves just in time for Xmas? If I wasn't so hopping mad I could cry.

 

Any suggestions anyone?

[Redwing]

OK, nothing on your scale but I have heard of chickens eating these before and they didnt come to any harm, its a subject that has come up on a few forums - chickens seem to really like polystyrene for some reason!

 

If it was my garden I would probably hire one of those garden vac or leaf blowers from a hire shop and try to reduce the numbers that way

 

In the meantime you are right to confine the chickens f they are eating them in quantity though I would imagine that they would catch on eventually!

[chelsea]

I've also heard of chickens eating filler from UPVC windows before and coming to no harm.

 

However, because of the quantities they are consuming I would try as Tasha suggests to remove as much as you can - chickens being chickens I think they would continue eating it if it's there and constantly eating it could lead to potential problems.

[sjp]

I've seen polystyrene recomended as a bordom buster on another forum and mine do eat it if the get the chance not that I like them to.when i asked the vet she wasn't keen on them eating it

I'd be on to the company that did it to clean it up it's they're responcerbility

failing that then it's a leaf vac or a Henry type vac

[chickenNutter]

Unfortunately as it is on gravel, I think it would be difficult to vac up, as it would suck the gravel up as well.

 

After searching on the forum, I am now confused as to whether it is harmful or not. I think that if it were a boredom-busting block of polystyrene, they may get bored after a bit, but as it is specks in the gravel that look like eggs, it is part of their foraging behaviour to keep rootling and eating.

 

There must have been some in the run on the day it happened (Monday) which they will have eaten, apparently without harm. In fact one of them has started laying for the first time since then!

 

Chicken science shock! - polysterene makes hens lay!!!

[Redwing]

speak to a hire company, I have seen the vacs used on gravel drives so I think the suction is such that it wll suck up light things (like leaves) and not the gravel

[Raina]

My girls ate loads of large clumps before,we got some new furniture and put everything out the back and the girls started to eat the big clumps of it, i was running about like a headless chicken trying to get it off them and pick it up before they did, They ate that much i thought they would die

 

That was back in July so i'm guessing it did no harm to them lol

[Egluntyne]

The odd mouthful probably wouldn't harm, but I wouldn't want my hens to be eating it as a routine. I would certainly never give it as a boredom buster. I remember reading somewhere about a hen getting an impacted crop because of it. Can't remember where though.

 

If it is in huge quantities, I think I'd try to get rid of it.

[sjp]

a vacum shouldn't pick that much graval up unless it's really small stuff

[Reikiranf]

I would definitely get on to the company & ask them to put it right, even if it means that they have to remove a couple of inches of gravel & soil and replace it

 

They caused the problem & I don't see why you should have extra work and expense because of their incompetence. As far as I know polystyrene is not biodegradable so it could be in your garden for a very long time

[chickenNutter]

Well I have spent the entire day in the garden removing tiny polystyrene balls. I couldn't bear to see my girls cooped up, so I set about clearing an area at the bottom of the garden which wasn't too badly affected, and by mid afternoon was satisfied that I could let them out safely in about half of it, with Omlet fencing across the rest. They were still picking up and eating the odd ball, but I am hoping from reading past posts on the subject that this tiny amount will pass through and not affect them.

 

I have now removed the top 3 inches of soil off all the planiting areas, and my OH, who claims to hate chickens with a passion, spent about 3 hours with me vacuuming the garden! Yes you did read that right - the only way we could get the polystyrene balls out of the gravel areas was to take our old Vax cylinder vacuum which we keep for clearing up DIY mess, and put a stocking over the nozzle of the tube and rattle it around in the gravel until we filled up half a leg with polystyrene, and then stopped the vac and emptied it out. Talk about mindlesly boring and soul destoying! OH now has 1,0000,0000 Brownie points to cash in at any time, bless him.

 

I can honestly say when I married him that I never expected to hear him say " Can you get me some new stockings, I have got a hole in mine!"

 

I will have to spend the whole of tomorrow doing the same as today, despite the fact I am absolutely exhausted, stiff as a board with terrible backache, but the girls are worth it.

 

Ironically after having our first ever egg on Wednesday, (Hetty) and one on Thursday and Friday, she didn't lay today. Talk about ungrateful,,,,,,,,,!

[abwsco]

What a nightmare Kate Mine have eaten the thickish plastic sheeting that we put on the side of the WIR to help keep it dry before now Mind you it does sound like your DH does love the girls now

[chickenNutter]

No, I think he joined in as he was worried for my mental health! (Well more worried than usual!) I was stomping round the garden ranting and raving and threatening to do terrible things to the workmen. I think he thought that helping might shut me up!

 

No egg yesterday or today though

[wiganchooks]

How's the garden situation?

Or do you have another fun-fillled weekend hoovering the gravel lined up?

 

That'll teach you to be an environmental super hero...

We really should know better