Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[Tracydr]

Quote:
This is exactly the type of thing us old timers want to avoid.. It is NOT gospel that hay is bad for chickens.

This poor person is very new to chickens and she believes without a doubt that hay is bad..

I have used hay as a substitute for straw since 1966.. Never had an impacted crop.. You are not going to convince me that I have been extremely lucky.. I say if you had impacted crop, there were probably other problems that helped cause it.. You were extremely unlucky..

I give my chickens hay as a treat several times a month.. the only reason I do not use it for deep litter bedding is because it mats down and is too hard to clean in the spring... No, I do not clean out my coops every day.. I never clean them at all from fall until spring..

You have experienced different things than I have, and many, many others on BYC - if you search, you will see pictures of impacted crops - clogged with hay. If you've had good luck using hay - then good for you, carry on - we all do what works best for us. However, it's good to know the POSSIBILITIES. It's not just a random person who has had the issue - as I said, do a search, not only here, but on the 'net - ask avian vets, your chicken mentor, whoever you respect.

I have personally taken a hen to an avian vet for disgnosis - crop stasis due to impacted crop from HAY. She flushed it out; hen died anyway, due to crop statis, brough on by the hay impaction. I'm not making it up. Anyone can do whatever they like - I am only stating my personal experience, but folks - please research it before using hay. JMO.

Good options for nest boxes: shredded newspapers, though they can be messy. I believe wood shavings are best. I put a square of indoor/outdoor carpet in the bottoms of my nest boxes, and then shavings on top. Many folks use straw or hay - it that's what flicks your Bic, then do so. Just know that you have choices.

I guess I've also been extraordinarily lucky in twenty five years. I'm sorry about your hen.
How are you supposed to keep free ranging farm chickens out of the hay?

 

[seminolewind]

I see my chickens eat all kinds of fiber, twigs, grass, etc. And chicks eat shavings.
The 2 crop impactions I've had were all fiberous material. Another died because her gizzard was impacted (necropsy).
I don't think hay or no hay would make a difference. If they eat fiber, they eat any fiber. And make us miserable when they do!

I thank the mods for reopening this thread, it's nice to hear bits of wisdom from veteran chicken owners.

SpeckledHen, I had to laugh at what your 90 year old father says. I kind of agree with him!

 

[Mommy 2 Wee Ones]

Thanks Tracydr!

 

[Mommy 2 Wee Ones]

thebirdguy Forgot to add, I like the barn, it looks very cool!

 

[Mommy 2 Wee Ones]

NEED OT

Just went out to count heads, and feed snack. One of my BO is under the stairs of the deck. Standing, head looking down, tail feathers pointing down, not moving when called.

She did not move when I got her, I felt for an egg, did not feel any thing. Am going to have her sit in a warm bath of water.

Suggestions?

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I like deep litter in a coop and I prefer wood shavings.

I had single nest boxes for many years and used straw in them most of the time. Now that I don't have straw around for livestock, I've gone to just using shavings. The chickens don't seem to care much, either way. I few years ago I started using a community nest box and I like that a lot. The chickens get along better, since they aren't fussing over hens going broody and hogging the favorite nest box.

When it comes to impacted crops, I know there's sometimes an issue with hay. I've never had a problem with it, but I free range. Over the years, I've seen the cases of chickens that had confirmed cases of impacted crops and later when the crop contents were examined, the crops were packed with hay that hadn't been able to pass. I'm just not sure what else is involved in the problem.

My impression at this point is that it may have to do with the type of hay and the diet of the chickens. I don't think it's a problem with free range chickens, but more of a problem with confined chickens that aren't getting any grass or other green feed. Given a choice, chickens are going to naturally prefer a young, tender grass or green, over a coarse, tough, dried hay. I don't think small amounts of shorter fibrous things are that big of a problem.

The other thing I wonder about is the use of the word hay. There are different kinds of hay. Alfalfa, different grasses and mixed hay. I don't know about all of the cases, but I think I remember that some were chickens that had eaten grass hays. When I had sheep, I fed them alfalfa hay in the winter and the chickens loved to eat the leaves that fell out. I've seen a lot of posts about chickens eating the small leaves from alfalfa hay, but not the stems.

In the old days, I didn't feed any green feed in winter and my chickens always acted like they were starved for grass when they were let out in the spring. It's like they craved it and could think of nothing else. Later on I went to providing green feed in the winter and I notice they're less intense about it in the spring, now. I think the cases I've primarily seen and read about were chickens confined to runs.

What I'm wondering, is if some of those cases of crop impaction were about chickens eating a large amount of long, coarse, grassy hay, because they didn't have anything else to eat, to get the nutrients they were missing in their diet. I'm wondering if they over ate it, because they were craving it.

Maybe some of you can comment on this.

 

[centrarchid]

Quote:
Posture like this?

 

[Mommy 2 Wee Ones]

Yes!

 

[they'reHISchickens]

Re: hay for chickens.
I think we need to realize that there are at least a zillion types of hay from Bermuda to timothy to orchard grass to alfalfa etc, and even in prime alfalfa, there are huge quality differences. The cause of crop problems may be the variety and quality of hay rather than the generic term *hay*. The type of hay we have available to us is largely a factor of where we reside.
I personally use what I call 'hay dirt' in the nests. This is the leavings in the hay mow when the bales are removed. It's generally small structural pieces and fairly fine in consistency and usually alfalfa based. We take a burlap bag to our local farm friend and scoop up the leavings to fill our nests. Of course, eggs are always welcome in return! If the hens pick through it while arranging their nests, so be it.
I also agree with the poster saying crop impaction may have something to do with the entire diet. Too much of a good thing will upset any creature's digestion. ( Hey, just give me enough candy and watch!) Some individuals may overindulge while others will be sensible. We have had a cow die of bloat in a big herd and all of the others be fine and no indication of why that particular one bit the dust. It happens. Someone didn't eat sensibly and they all eat the same thing-- or at least we think they do.
The best OT wisdom , and one we tell the kids all the time: It's going to die, sooner or later. If you are lucky it will be later. If you aren't, it will be sooner. If it's valuable or treasured, it's likely to die sooner. Love it, treasure it, but realize it is a living thing and will die eventually.
We as a society have gotten further and further away from dealing with death. We pretend death doesn't exist and we can fix all illness in anything given enough time and money.

 

[centrarchid]

Quote:
Bird in image was culled from breeding flock but still lives. Condition was transient with no outward signs roughly 36 hours after first observed. My bird was not treated. I think cause for my bird was some sort of mechanical trauma to nerves in neck or to brain.