Hay??

[Dixiedoodle]

I have a niece that has horses and feeds hay. She has tons of it loose in the hay room-that she will NOT feed to her horses. Most of it is broken into small pcs. but is clean and dry and looks really nice. I see NO seed heads on it. I would like to know if I put down some crickets, seeds, and laying pellets down then throw the hay on top ---will this hurt the chickens?? I just thought it would be nice for them to scratch thru to find something --instead of just pecking at the ground!!

Thank you Dixie

 

[sundance]

I use hay in my nests, and on the floor of the coop. I have a piece of tin under the roosts, and I keep it covered with hay so its easy to pull out and put in the garden, but I buy bales of hay and use it both in the chicken coop and in my garden, makes it easy to keep out the weeds. Marrie

 

[Dixiedoodle]

Thank you for your reply.

I have read both pros and cons on this subject. I went ahead and threw some on 1/2 the run--after I had thrown some scratch, seeds and pellets in--the Chickens LOVED it.. They didn't even care about the food that they could see easily, started scratching and diggin' around thru the hay.. I did see two eating small pcs of the hay! I pray they will be ok...Dixie

 

[terri9630]

I used hay in the chicks pen when they were small instead of shavings and toss them some when I feed the horses. It's no longer than what they would pull up out of the yard. If I had a yard.....

 

[cassie]

Think about it. Chickens used to peck around in the barnyard and corrals on most farms. What is in the barnyard? Hay!! I have been throwing some alfalfa to my half grown chicks so they have something to peck besides each other. They love it!! And it keeps them busy.

 

[Mydnight]

I keep hay in the nest boxes too! and I regularly throw some hay and the weeds from the garden in the tractor for the meaties, roots and all. I come out the next day and there's nothing left! Plus, for me, the hay works as a sort of deep litter.

 

[Eggs4Sale]

We have 40 straw bales worth of straw as our chicken yard floor. They don't eat it. They DO eat the multitude of bugs that hide under there, though.