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

[Tracydr]

I've always had chickens free ranging where I kept horses and cattle. They spent a lot of time in the hay barn. Never had crop impactions but they had plenty of gravel for grit.
I now keep my chickens in a large pen and I use a mix of alfalfa and pine straw (pine needles) as the coop bedding. They eat the alfalfa leaves and the stems become bedding. I offer grit free choice.
Not saying hay doesn't cause crop impactions. Grass can, too. I guess, if you worry about crop impactions the chickens can live in wire cages and eat only crumbles or mash.
But, not my chickens. I'd rather take the possible chance of losing one every 25-30 years to an impaction than to raising them like battery hens.

 

[GreenGoddess]

Quote:
If people on this thread were ALLOWED to post in other sections with common sense instead of the "feel good" attitude. without being reprimanded or called "cruel", this site would be much more valuable... Unfortunately, I agree with the fact that chickens are unfortunately becoming a "trend" of carrying a fuzzy little chick or fluffy silkie in a purse...

Don't get me wrong.. I love my chickens.. I pet my chickens when they come up to me while I am gathering eggs... I talk to them... But, they still serve a purpose! If they end up that their purpose is no longer needed, they get gone!

I also consider them "CHEEP therapy!".. I have depression and when I am feeling down, I will go out to the coop and talk to them.. Our head roo will "argue" with me... Of course, I don't mean this literally but when he's clucking away, it makes me feel better.. Do I feel it makes them feel any better or happier because I am out there? Probably not... But I enjoy having them and I LOVE the fresh eggs they give me!!

On the other hand, would I put one in a diaper and let it roam my house? Ummm... Not no but H*** NO!!

Goddess

 

[TinyChickenLady]

First of all I'd like to say

I'm new to the thread and less than a year of chicken rearing under my belt soooooo I'M A NEWBIE! You've been warned LoL
I plan on scouring this thread and absorbing everything I can before I increase my flock and get in too deep.

The question that's popping in my head right now is....

Well I know hay causes crop impaction and I don't give my chickens any hay but I need to put something in their nesting boxes. This past summer, I put timothy hay in but none of the chickens lay yet so I took it out.
What should I put in there? Can I keep the timothy hay or will they eat it out of the nesting boxes? If not timothy hay, then what?

 

[jvls1942]

I would like to caution about diagnosing a chicken's death by circumstantial evidence.. I am trying my darndest to keep from being too blunt, here..

Just because you opened up a chicken's crop and found it "impacted" with hay, does not necessarily mean that is what it died from..

On butchering day, we have several crops "impacted" with hay or grass.. does that mean that had we not butchered these chickens , that tomorrow they would have died anyway ? and then there are all the rest of the chickens we did not butcher,,,,,that lived.. how fortunate we were to grab just the ones with "impacted" crops..

I have one shelter built out of hay bales.. I do it every winter.. I have yet to lose a chicken from impacted crop..

Maybe if the crop was truly impacted with hay, the chicken was starving and did not have enough grain to eat..

The grit ends up in the gizzard for grinding food..

corn does warm chickens up.. Not like a blanket would, but it creates a good amount of calories.. so don't laugh at the next old timer who says corn warms up a chicken.. maybe he does know something after all. ??

 

[jvls1942]

Quote:
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..

 

[aceschix]

I posted a question earlier that i think got missed in all the excitement of the thread's return.

Could you all let me know if you use deep litter in the Winter and what medium you use if you do?

 

[thebirdguy]

Quote:
Alfalfa has deep roots so whatever you put in the raised bed will give it a great start but know that the roots will extend way past your bed box....

As far as seeds go, you should be able to find some at most farm/feed stores. You could put an ad on craigslist and find a farmer with a sack full ( you will only need a small amount for a bed as 50 lbs of seed will plant acres

) If you just can't find any, I have seen it sold in health food stores for sprouting for salads...

 

[thebirdguy]

Quote:
I am planning to use deep litter in my pens this year (if the barn ever gets finished...

) I have bagged leaves and oat hay that I will be putting in there..

 

[ontimeborzoi]

Gosh, I'm not an old timer but I have been bedding chickens with hay, amusing chickens with hay, putting down hay carpets when snow is on the ground, and lining nests with hay, and in seven years have never had an impacted crop. Usually have around 25 chickens.....
Have I really been that extraordinarily lucky?!

 

[Wynette]

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.