Does any one feed your hens alfalfa?

[inertsoul]

1st year chicken mom here! My back yard is bare. Not a blade of grass dues to large trees. I asked and associate at TSC what she recommended and she suggested alfalfa. Has any one else bought bundles on alfalfa for your girls?

 

[DobieLover]

1st year chicken mom here! My back yard is bare. Not a blade of grass dues to large trees. I asked and associate at TSC what she recommended and she suggested alfalfa. Has any one else bought bundles on alfalfa for your girls?

I tried adding alfalfa pellets to my chickens fermented feed mix so the pellets would soften up during the fermenting process. They hated it and left it behind when they ate.
I would be cautious about feeding dried alfalfa hay to chickens as it could impact the crop.

 

[SouthShore Phil]

Been feeding Alfalfa for 6 mo and no issues. Hens love it and no crop issues.
I use from TSC the "Atlantic Hay Alfalfa - chopped green to maximize leaf retention and quality - 20lb white bag". Nice, green, fresh and small particles.
I tried the compacted big bale but it was too compacted, not as fine and dried out quickly. They like to stand on it and munch. The 20lb. white bag, I throw a few handfuls down and they gobble it up.

 

[21hens-incharge]

When I had cattle my hens were crazy about hopping into the cattle pen and eating the alfalfa.

Now that I live in town I occasionally buy a bale for them. Second cutting has lots of leaves, few weeds and seems to be what mine like best.

I do not mix it with the feed. I lay it in the run where they can scratch through it for what they want.

If you have a small patch of yard where you can try to plant some I am sure they would like the green plants too.

 

[GC-Raptor]

I've been buying the compressed bale of Alfalfa hay and Grass at TSC for two years. Its got tiny leaves, powder and stems. I wouldn't use it in place of pine shavings.
I use pine shavings for bedding and put some Alfalfa on top and I toss Alfalfa under my Golden Comets raised coop. . . . . . I haven't had crop issues using it this way. They eat the powder and leaves, not the stems. They have access to Crumbles in the coop 24/7. GC

 

[Papmike]

Instead of $13 for a bag of dried alfalfa I would grow some type of fodder for them. The alfalfa will have a lot of fibrous stalks with little nutrition. The leaf matter has the nutrition but will probably be less then 10% of the product. This is primarily for ruminants who have the capacity to digest this.

 

[Criticalicious]

If you're looking for easy greens to feed, chickens love spinach and cabbage, and they're usually cheap at the grocery store. Growing fodder from seed is fairly easy and nutritious as well but it takes a few days.

 

[chickens really]

Spinach actually blocks calcium from being absorbed. I definitely don't feed that. I toss hay to my chickens being I have horses and goats too.

 

[Criticalicious]

Spinach only blocks absorption of the calcium contained in the spinach itself. It won't affect absorption of calcium from other sources. According to sources in this post. Therefore, spinach is fine as a healthy treat, and treats shouldn't be more than 10% of daily feed.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Mine won't eat spinach. They are very fond of Swiss chard though.