Using regular grass hay for coop bedding on floor?

[Woofless]

I'm just wondering if regular grass hay, in a round bale, like you'd put out for a horse....would be OK to use on the floor of my chicken coop?

 

[wateboe]

Hay gets moldy quickly, unlike straw. I would stay away from hay as a permanent bedding material, although I have used it in a pinch when it will only be in use for a couple of days.

 

[Wynette]

Chickens often will eat hay, and there are many, many threads on here about folks reporting their chickens have gotten impacted crops from hay - some strands are so long, it gets all balled up in their crop & just can't pass through. I've lost two to this, before realizing what was going on, so I no longer use hay.

Straw is better, however, beware that mites find the hollow stalks of straw strands a nice place to live.