Alfalfa for chickens...and what about impacted crop?

[aoxa]

I got a huge bag of alfalfa pellets for horses two weeks ago. I soak around 3 cups of the pellets in a tiny bit of water overnight. They expand and smell kind of strange. It looks very fine once expanded. I then mix it with my crumble every second day. I don't put enough water for it to feel wet when I fluff it up in the morning. It's very dry. The chickens will not eat it like that (at least mine won't). They do eat it mixed with their feed, though they hated it at first. It has turned my yolks more deep orange than I have ever had before! Even when there was tons of grass for them to eat! The alfalfa is much better for yolk colour (IMO).

 

[centrarchid]

I've heard alot of people comment on Alfalfa. However, wouldn't greens, collards, kale be just as good for them. I raise these & really don't wanna buy more feed for the chooks.

Alfalfa hay I think would be supperior in respect to available protein but the alternatives when provided fresh will be with respect to some vitamins. Duriing production season I like my birds to have access to growing legumes like alfalfa and red clover and use alfalfa hay during winter as a distant second best.

 

[jeslewmazer]

I've never had impacted crop from using Alfalfa hay. It would all depend on what you have on hand, can or can't afford, and/or personal preference. I rotate different sources. One time I used some rabbit pellets given to me and I just mixed them in the feed. I will feed whole or scrap greens, if I am currently not free ranging.

 

[EweSheep]

7L, I don't see it as a problem feeding kale, lettuce, collard greens, spinach and related plants/legumes as long it is done in moderation. Its good for them!

 

[ChickChickChicky]

My girls have alfalfa hay to scratch around in every day, and I do see them eating the dried/crumbled leaves from it, never any impaction problems. I also give them some kind of greens every day, depending mostly on what's cheap or on sale.... kale, spinach, romaine lettuce, collard greens, cabbage, etc. I have some carrots in cold storage that are starting to sprout leaves, so next week I'll probably be pulling that off and feeding to them. I do plan to grow a few alfalfa plants myself for them to eat on this summer and fall.

 

[brownred6]

A quick and cheap way to get greens into wintertime chickens
1. buy a head of cabbage
2.stick a big nail through the stem end ,in one side and out the other
3.tie a length of twine(i use hay bale twine) around both ends of the nail.
4. tie it to the roof of your coop so the cabbage head swings a few ,maybe4-6 , inches off the ground.
5 . It will stay clean ,freezing won't hurt it ,the chickens love it and it's so good for them. It will all get eaten!!!

 

[bantyhen'sfriend]

Our chickens have access to our hay mow, with lots of grass/alfalfa mix hay. We have never had a problem with impacted crop, or anything else related to them consuming the hay.

Thanks so much!
I told my mom that they like oats, she was wondering what kind and if we had to spend a lot on oats. But i don't think quick oats are expensive...at all

BTW-

Instead of quick oats, why don't you feed whole oats or rolled oats? Whole oats can be soaked and softened if you're concerned about your chooks eating them. Rolled oats are the livestock version of oatmeal, and can be prepared in the same way. Both are a lot cheaper, too. Whole oats are about $12 for a 50 pound bag, and last way longer than the small containers you get in the store. I don't know about the price of rolled oats, I haven't fed them in a long time.

 

[KDK1]

They also were not exposed to adequate amounts of grit prior to consuming the hay. The grit is needed to process such coarse materials.

Grit has nothing to do with processing anything in the crop. Grit is stored in the gizzard (which is way past the crop in the digestive tract) to grind seeds and other coarse materials.

 

[ClareScifi]

When I was debating giving a rooster to someone who keeps grass hay (the type you give turtles) out in the coop all the time, I was told that any type of hay can cause an impacted crop, even mown grass clippings.

I have a friend who had a chicken who ate hay and got an impacted gizzard from it and died. She won't give any of her chickens hay of any type.

I have a chowhound chicken who eats everything, and I wouldn't dare let him around hay of any sort. He doesn't clip grass off in small pieces like most chickens do. He inhales... HAHA He sucks up a long piece of grass as if it's a strand of soft spaghetti!

My chickens love lespedeza. It grows wild around their run.

 

[Smiles-N-Sunshine]

I give alfalfa hay to our rabbits as a supplemental feed. They seem to prefer the long stems over the tender leaves, so plenty of leaves fall through the cage bottom to the ground, where the chickens get it. The chickens scratch around in the "bunny berries", which helps keep them dry and spread out.