Australia - Six states..and that funny little island.

[AussieChics]

You gotta love the girls when they think they are helping.

They certainly looked like they were having fun!

 

[cwrite]

I'd be watching the pullets a little closer. Our hay smells sweet like Lucerne . If hay smells sour , chances are it is mouldy inside the biscuits. Mouldy hay is something to avoid feeding and can also cause health issues with chickens .

It wasn't a sour smell - just a pungent odour that smelt like farm to me. I'm not sure what lucerne smells like, but this stuff was fresh and not mouldy at all. Someone else might love the smell of hay, my only point was that hay does have a strong odour, while straw does not which might be a consideration if you are keeping the broody box inside, or need to store that bale in the garage. I only found out by trial and error through buying both. : )

 

[satay]

It wasn't a sour smell - just a pungent odour that smelt like farm to me.  I'm not sure what lucerne smells like, but this stuff was fresh and not mouldy at all.  Someone else might love the smell of hay, my only point was that hay does have a strong odour, while straw does not which might be a consideration if you are keeping the broody box inside, or need to store that bale in the garage.  I only found out by trial and error through buying both.    : )

I get fancy's post .It's smells like a strong sweet cut grass. It is a smell to get used to sometimes. especially if you have hayfever like me. Mouldy hay I have smelt before and it sure is not a pretty smell.

 

[youngchooklover]

Just to check, but they are being kept on a surface with grip, not newspaper?

Yes they are.

 

[youngchooklover]

And now 3 chicks have died to this problem.

 

[Fancychooklady]

I get fancy's post .It's smells like a strong sweet cut grass. It is a smell to get used to sometimes. especially if you have hayfever like me. Mouldy hay I have smelt before and it sure is not a pretty smell.

Haha, I smell like hay all the time. On my way down the drive I hay the horses, I'm always picking the stuff out of my clothes. For me it's the cheapest option, we cut 700 bales off one of our paddocks each year and it only costs me $2 per bale. Last year we had to leave 60 bales in the paddock because it was wet. Can't afford to put it in the shed as it is known to self combust and can't feed it out.
When our daughter was competing in Vic we were paying $20 a bale and if it hadn't been labeled ' hay ' you would have easily mistaken it for straw. Just depends where you are and what you have available to you. We have friends that have massive pines and I'm seriously considering giving the pine needles a go. I use oaten chaff in the brooder, it's easy to scoop the poop out but if it gets wet it smells musty, it's only $20 for a 20 kilo sack.

 

[Steampunked]

I've heard pine needles are really good.

I love the smell of sweet hay, used to roll around in it as a kid. Straw leaves welts all over me, hay doesn't, but I've no idea why.

 

[Sidhe13]

Missed getting to do my day 7 candle cuz I'm stuck in stupid hospital. Man i am soooo ready to be discharged! Bring on Wednesday and fingers crossed!
Hospital is all good when you are sick but when you are at the "monitoring you just in case" stage....gets real old, real quick.
Will it matter too much if i miss Day 7 candle?

 

[Sidhe13]

Just built a trench around my lime tree cos the water wasn't soaking in. Girls just ruined it lol. I even made a different puddle so they wouldn't. But they were not having a bar of it lol

I don't know why my partner keeps trying to do exactly this...he digs them a big muddy pile then races over to do the tree and they run along behind him! Cracks me up to no end! He chases and swears and stomps and yells...and they just run around him to dig on the other side of the tree!

 

[Sidhe13]

Well, I decided and now have two new Belgian d'Uccle girls who are three months old. A little silver millefleur: And her lavender friend: The lavender seems to have the most amazing beard - I'm only into this as a fun hobby, but she walks around in a very stately way, as if quite impressed at herself.

They are beautiful! That lavender has "fabulous " written all over!