Thank you KiKisgirls
Thank you. I think I was given that subtle tip before and didn't get it. I will explore more before writing
I feed mine alfalfa hay in the winter, I also house them in a greenhouse (I bend the hoops myself so I can make the house what ever size I need. I also store alfalfa pellets and crack them before adding to their ration.
Thank you from South Jersey. We actually have land in Roan Mountain and will be joining you in TN in a few yearsHi and welcome to BYC from middle Tennessee
Chicken lovers united! lol..I like the livestock conservatory and though not a member used their info in deciding breeds. I hope to settle on a few endangered and help them grow and improve. I see you have some rare birds. I do also, but have a surprise rooster - Catalina. approx. 27 breeds with 3-45 of each..only one Catalina and Sumtaler though. If you hear of any quality Catalina breeders, please pass it along
this ended up being useful for my 1st purchase. Thanks again Wicked chicken 6 with math problems tooHello!It's great you've joined the flock!
We have put a couple of alfalfa/brome square bales in with the flock during winter. In my case I haven't spread them because I use the bales to add another dimension of height. I've had a case of the chicken math as well...although not quite as plentiful as your situation. I may/may not have the area required for the number of birds in the coops for winter...lol. So I've adapted to using vertical height in the coop to help.
The birds like to pick at the more tender parts of the hay; the grass leaves, the alfalfa flowers and tender shoots. The base stem of the plant tends to get left and gets added to the bedding once they eat it down to the point the bale is loose and loses shape.
The best alfalfa hay would be the cuts you could get before the hay gets very tall. I see you're in New Jersey. I'm guessing people get more than one cut of hay. Here we get one cut..maybe 2 if we're lucky and our hay the last few years has been coarse because it rains when we want to be cutting it and our cut has been delayed.
Yes, if you are able to keep it covered, out of the sun and out of the rain...the hay you buy will still be good. We are just finishing up our hay, both round and square. The round is placed in rows and the squares are put into the loft of the barn.
If you've had rainy weather, you'll want to make certain the bales you're buying do not have mold in the centers; that's both round bales and square bales. It usually shows up as whitish or black colored hay. Either the baled have been baled too green...or in the case of square bales...they've been allowed to get wet through the bale.
I've used this site and the conservancy breeders list to find breeders.Thank you from South Jersey. We actually have land in Roan Mountain and will be joining you in TN in a few years
