When you hear something about popcorn, you will always remember having this snack popcorn with friends while enjoying a movie at the multiplex cinema.
But popcorn is a favorite snack for chickens too.
Can Chickens Eat Popcorn?
Yes, chickens love to eat popcorn. They enjoy popcorn only when it is fully ready to eat.
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Also, salt is not suitable for their health.
Hence, any popcorn that you want to feed to your chickens should not contain salt.
How Much Popcorn is Sufficient for Chickens?
Two primary nutrients that are essential for the chickens’ diet are magnesium and fiber.
Both these two nutrients are available in popcorn. When you prepare popcorn for your chicken, do not add any salt or spice.
It would be best if you are careful about the leftover popcorn in your house.
When you prepare popcorn for yourself, do not leave the leftovers unattended.
If the chickens happen to eat that salty popcorn, there will be health issues for them.
Which Popcorn is Safe for Chickens?
There are varieties of popcorn that we can eat. The first variety is like the one which we eat while going to a movie.
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These popcorns are full of spices, salt, additives, and other materials like sodium.
This type of popcorn is harmful to chickens.
The other type of popcorn is kernel type. You can prepare it in a brown paper bag.
This type of popcorn does not contain any spice, salt, preservatives, or additives and is suitable for the chickens.
Nutritional Values of Popcorns
If we take 1 oz of popcorn, it will supply 459 KJ energy, 1.4g of fat, saturated fat of about 0.6 grams, sodium just 2 mg, dietary fiber 4.1 g, sugar 0.2 g, Protein 3.7 gm, calcium about 2 mg, and 93 mg of potassium.
Can Chickens Get Bored?
If you have chickens at home, you will be aware of how to give them keep a balanced diet.
But keep in mind that you shouldn’t neglect their mental well-being too.
There is a possibility that you may not be aware of the mental behavior of the chickens.
Like humans, chickens struggle with boredom as well.
Sometimes, they feel sad and you will notice that they keep just sitting in one place.
This type of behavior is a symbol that they are feeling bored.
There is nothing to worry about it as it is a normal phenomenon for the chickens.
But there is a way to make them enthusiastic and active.
When you prepare food for your chickens, there will be leftovers of fruits and veggies.
So, if you offer this stuff to your chickens, they will start jumping and foraging here and there with high energy.
They will forget about the dullness in their life. A small amount of treatment is sufficient to give them.
You can schedule a fixed time for these treats.
They will start waiting for the food even before the set time and eventually will forget their boredom dullness.
Kitchen’s Leftovers for Chickens
Feeding the kitchen’s leftovers to your chickens is an excellent idea.
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When we prepare food, we result in leaving a variety of leftovers.
These veggies, fruits, and green leaves are the best source of different nutrients.
So, instead of throwing them in the garbage, it is an excellent idea to offer them to chickens.
You may be loving your chickens too much, but it doesn’t mean that you should overfeed them.
But there is no requirement of showing this love by giving them too many treats.
Excessive feeding of treats will lead to overeating and obesity.
Place a Swing for Chickens
When you have a dog at home, you provide a chewable toy for him.
Similarly, you keep a swing in the cage for your birds. In the same way, chickens also like to hang around the coop.
So, it is a good idea to place a swing in their copper. They will swing on them and enjoy the time.
It will kill their boredom and will allow them to interact with fellow chickens.
A feeling of competition with other chickens will keep them active.
How to Keep the Perches for Chickens’ Area
The primary purpose of all these activities is to remove the boredom from their life.
So, you can arrange different activities for their coop.
The provisioning of perches in the chickens’ netted area is a good option.
Once you put a log or a pole in the coop, they will find ways to enjoy and perform activities.
They will climb, fly, jump, chase each other, and hang over the poles.
So, installing a pole or pipe on which the chickens can do various activities is a good idea.
Chickens will always welcome any change or modification in the coop.
You can also create some hanging or sitting arrangement from the fallen tree branches with grass and some loose ropes.
How can You Stop Your Chicken from Eating His Eggs?
When the chickens are feeling bored and sitting idle, they may sometimes think about breaking their eggs.
Initially, it happens unintentionally. If the hen sees a cracked egg and the material is lying beside it, it will try to taste the stuff.
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Eventually, it will be tempted to break the other eggs and eat them too.
Since the taste is good, it will have the intention to break the other egg too.
The idea of eating their eggs spreads among the flock because they are fast learners.
You must identify the hen that breaks its eggs as early as possible and remove it from the coop before others learn to do the same.
Why do Chickens Eat Eggs?
The chickens’ resort to eating their eggs:
When they feel bored in the coop because there are no activities where they can involve themselves.
The food provided to them is deficient in vitamin D and Calcium. So, they try at their level to compensate for this deficiency on their own.
When the chicken is feeling bored and they are under stress, their eggs tend to break. A broken egg tempts the chickens to try their own eggs.
Some hens are the culprit in this scenario. They deliberately break the eggs.
The design of the nest or the laying area is not suitable for the chicken to lay the eggs, which might cause damage to the eggs.
If the owner is not providing good quality drinking water in sufficient quantities, the chickens may resort to breaking the eggs to drink the liquid out of the egg.
How to Control Egg Eating by Chickens
There should be a proper schedule and arrangement for picking up the eggs. Do not leave the eggs lying too long.
There will be some broody hens, so it may be best to remove them from the location. Otherwise, it may intimidate cause other hens into doing the same.
The design of the nesting area should be proper so that there is no egg breaking while laying or picking up.
In some cases, you can place some dummy or plastic eggs-like like plastic or those made of wooden or ceramic materials. If they try to break, it will not be possible, and their intention of breaking the egg will cease.
Conclusion
Chickens indeed love to eat popcorn, but you should offer popcorn without any salt or spice.
You should place some swing, pole, or artificial accommodations space inside their netted area so that they can have a good time to enjoy some activities and won’t feel bored.
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Bored chickens may turn to eat their eggs.
But if you provide a properly balanced diet to the chickens, they will stop their egg-eating habits practice.
