thoughts on hay

[RIVERA69R]

Thats what i figured thanks

 

[MakNat]

I've heard that a good quality hay is great nutrition for chickens as well..

 

[cmom]

Quote:
I agree. I use deep litter and I sprinkle FOOD GRADE Diatomaceous Earth (DE) on the shavings. I add shavings until I have approx 6in. Periodically, I add DE. I clean my coop once a year. Once in awhile I throw some scratch on the shavings and let the chickens mix it up. They do a very good job. I have no problems with flies, stink and such. My pine shavings stay nice and dry easy to clean out. I put the shavings in my compost pile. The poop under the roost goes into the compost. I grow so much produce that what I don't sell, I give it away or my birds get it. My soil is low in acid so I think the pine shavings are good for my soil. I have been buying my pine shavings in the pet department at Wal-Mart.

 

[RIVERA69R]

Where do you buy the de and how much do you put down?

 

[bigzio]

Hay on the coop floor is not absorbent and will have the ability to become moldy from the chooks wet feet. It will work, i have used it many times when in a pinch. Almost anything will work somewhat....pine straw, dry leaves, shredded newspaper, wheat straw, etc...however, hands down nothing is superior to pine shavings.

bigzio

 

[RIVERA69R]

Sounds good i am going to use pine shavings it seems most people like it

 

[thedeacon]

I don't use hay for bedding or nest boxes. I do use it, mostly in winter when the chicks don't or can't go outside because of the snow cover. It gives them something to do. Scratch, scratch and scratch some more. They eat the green leaves of the alfalfa. I limit it to a slab or two at a time. It's their free range grass in the winter

 

[Akane]

Considering how many people have used hay and straw for how many years without problems I would say there is something else that contributes to impaction from hay. Maybe too little grit eaten or something similar. Shavings weren't always so easy to get and hay and straw used to be very easy to find since everyone grew their own and had extra. I've been giving my chicks and chickens some of the hay we grow to pick through and eat. They go nuts for the leafy parts. I would not use it as a bedding by itself. It does not absorb moisture, keeps moisture under it from drying, and molds easy. Along with being much harder to clean out than shavings. I would only use it as a layer over shavings or a treat to dig through and eat not as the main bedding.

 

[RIVERA69R]

Thanks for all the advice HAPPY THANKSGIVING

 

[MrGreenJeans]

I use shavings/deep liter inside the coop, and over the summer used hay outside to give them something to scratch through. After wetting down and turning the compost over - I don't think I'll be using hay again. A heavy barynard smell permeated the neighborhood until it cooked off. Took two days and I'm smack dab in the middle of the city. Thankfully autumn came - the raked up leaves have been great.

Next spring I think I might see what I can get at the garden center - a nice mossy humus or cured wood mulch (I'd rather not use wood shavings outside. They'd get blown all over the place)