what is it about chickens and polystyrene?

[fen not fen]

if I am negligent and leave any polystyrene about the hens eat it as if it were their last chance to eat.It's amazing how quickly they can demolish a broccoli box! Why is it so fascinating? Can it be doing them any good?

[Sue]

Mine go nuts for the blue plastic garden rubbish sacks I put their old litter into when cleaning them out. They don't eat it but love to peck at it. Mine are all now decorated with a zillion tiny holes. They sneak around silently to get at it and I have to have eyes in the back of my head.

Trouble is that if 1 starts something like this, the collective brain cell gets them all going crazy to copy.

Sue

[Myrkk]

Yeah mine do the same. Crazy birds, they do the same with cardboard.

I was going to tell you about their most disgusting habit but decided it may be tmi.

[sue-the-recycler]

And I thought I was the only one with nutty hens! I use chunks of polystyrene as drainage in the bottom of tubs abd everytime a bit strays from the shed the chooks fight each other like something demented to get hold of it - there is no treat I can give them that has the same effect! I try to stop the frenzy but am rarely sucessful in getting it off them but they never seem to have suffered any ill effects. I cant imagine its any good for them.

[Chantal]

I have several big polystyrene boxes around the garden which the chickens can get at but don't bother with very much. Admittedly they've made the top edge a bit frilly but they tend to ignore them and eat the salad which is in them (it's going to seed which is why it's out for them). I clearly have discerning chicks