ALFALFA

[Scrambled Egg]

Maybe it's the difference in the bale and the pellets? I only feed mine in a bale and they love it, plus it's good on the floor of their coop. For other greens I have been hanging either a cabbage or collards or lettuce on a bungee in my coop and they will work on that all day long. I agree with CovenantCreek too about the grass growing from the leftover scratch. When I clean my pen now I dump the alfalfa, pine shavings, chicken poop, and whatever scratch is in it in a big place grass wouldn't grow in my front yard. It is green now from the scratch seeds growing so maybe it will develop enough root structure that in the summer I can have a normal yard--in the meantime, the birds and squirrels are quite happy with me, lol!! Darlene

 

[Picco]

I used to give my birds a handful of rabbit food every once in a while when I had rabbits. They loved it. The pellets are more grass hay than alfalfa though. I have heard of people using rabbit pellets as a base for their homemade feed rations.

 

[jab91864]

When I can score a bale of alfalfa hay the flock loves it and spend hours and hours pecking and scratching. Otherwise I toss in a handful of rabbit pellets along with their feed or sometimes in warm oatmeal.

~Julie

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

Quote:
Alfalfa Pellets are formulated to contain 17% Crude Protein, to achieve this a misture of alfalafa is used, a mixture of good and bad hay. The alfalfa hay you provide is more than likely good hay and the birda can pick and choose between the extrememly nutritous leaves and the harder to digest stems.

So yes, there is a difference between alfalfa pellets and alfalfa hay.

Jim

 

[Scrambled Egg]

Thanks Lazy for the explanation, I guess I got lucky then that my choice, by total ignorance!!, was the cheaper one, which was the bale, $12.00!

 

[KingsCalls]

Chickee's Mom :

I swear these birds eat better than us.

That's the truth! We spend more time mixing our birds feed and giving them little extras than we put into planning our dinner!​

 

[skeeter]

12 bucks for a bale of hay?good grief,things are just getting rediculas,no wonder a steak is 20 dollars

 

[kstaven]

And with current world weather patterns the price of hay is just going to keep climbing.

Mine go crazy over good baled hay and have no use for the processed garbage pellets. I find the condition of my other animals is superior with hay. The processing does nothing but remove valuable nutrients, and turn enzymes into endocrine disruptors. Many pellets use synthetic vitamins, which if you read university studies, you will find are known to be toxic. Much like the synthetic A and D used in our milk.

 

[ksacres]

We throw down rabbit pellets, sunflower seeds and sweet feed as a treat every night in the winter.

 

[LindaN]

For those of us without a nearby feed store, is the alfalfa that you buy in a pet store the same as the baled stuff? I know my girls want some greens, too, and the little bits of veggie scraps they're getting from when I cook (carrot peelings, cooked potato peelings, wilted lettuce, etc.) are just not enough for them. Sure, they get fresh layer crumbles every day, but they really want the greens!