Alfalfa Cubes for Chickens? UPDATE

[cajunlizz]

Well , I called and they do have the bales and the cubes .

Bales are square bales for 14.75

cubes are 50 lbs. for 14.17 is that about right ?

 

[serendipity22]

I might have to ask around my horse friends and see if they've got any open already. I'd hate to buy a bag and then the chickens not be interested.

 

[geareduplyn]

This is an interesting topic. I feed alfalfa cubes to my horses so I'm going to try a couple of things with them. When I had all my chickens in basically dry lot conditions I gave them a flake of alfalfa each day for greens. Where I live now alfalfa is hard to get and very expensive when you can get it. The cubes are available though and although semi expensive might be a great supplement.

 

[scgamecock]

None of my chickens are laying well right now so I'm not gonna waste the money unitl they start laying better.most have been going thru a hard molt but I do have some younger ones who have started laying but the short daylight hours are hurting them now.

 

[geareduplyn]

Quote:
Thats a strange logic. I probably spend the most money on mine when they are going through molt. I give lots of protein supplements for new feather growth and the stress from molting. They always repay me with their egg increased production later.

 

[ams3651]

Quote:
there was a post on here a while back with an article about old time chicken feeding and it was mentioned a flock will lay better thru the winter if still getting greens to eat. I wondered about the cubes too, I may have to get some. I also bought greens from the grocery and they could have cared less, they prefered the clover I picked them which is now pretty much gone due to snow.

 

[balticbabe]

Quote:
I've been doing this for about a month. They get a cube a day for seven hens. The girls look disappointed when I give it to them but they do eat it by days end. They give me the same look when I give them any green other than dandelion or clover.

I think the bag of cubes was $13. At a cube a day it should last a year. The cubes expand to at least double the size.

 

[Bassleg]

The time to feed Hay cubes is anytime in the winter it will help your birds make them strong and in turn they will lay more eggs. Just my two cent

 

[balticbabe]

Quote:
They have been laying better since they started on the alfalfa cubes. I switched to organic feed at the same time. If it's the alfalfa that gave me the increase I could save $10 a bag on feed.

 

[scgamecock]

Quote:
Thats a strange logic. I probably spend the most money on mine when they are going through molt. I give lots of protein supplements for new feather growth and the stress from molting. They always repay me with their egg increased production later.

My point is not the extra protein.I have heard that alphalfa helps with the yolk color just like any green stuff does.That's why I said I wouldn't spend the money on it right now.