Forms of Alfalfa for chickens/ducks?

[susienoe]

Can I ask a question of you seasoned poultry owners? I had included alfalfa as an ingredient in my homemade feed. I was unsure of what kind to buy so I got pellets. I am also including field peas, but I read that they need to be ground, so I bought a grinder and ran the peas and some of the alfalfa pellets through the grinder last night. I just can't tell from all of the impacted chicken stories here if this is going to be better or worse to grind up the alfalfa pellets for the chickens/ducks. I believe they are horse pellets, I put them through a grain mill on a course grind and they came out pretty small flakes. Thanks!

 

[loveourbirds]

we ferment our feed, alfalfa pellets work well, you can also use alfalfa cubes or rabbit pellets.

 

[susienoe]

I probably won't ferment (have my hands full with yogurt, kefir, and sauerkraut for the 4 kiddos) but interesting to know it can be done! Would you think it better to give the chickens whole pellets, or grind them?

 

[loveourbirds]

before i fermented, i had some troubles with the bantams eating pellets, i switched to rabbit pellets and they ate them pretty well. since you have them and a grinder, i would grind them.

just so you know, if your chickens can get to grass; the alfalfa is un-needed.

be careful with mixing your own feed, one mistake can cost you months of laying. we have a mill that mixes feed for us, we have spent about 2 years studying the ingredients in our feed. some of our beginning mixes caused dull feathers and overall poor condition with a severe lack of vitamin E and protein. i also killed at least one chicken with a whole canadian pea.