wondering

[jones-e]

if hay is good inside my chicken run on the ground? i heard it can carry lice and ticks does all hay carry lice and ticks.its hard to get straw around here this time of year.the run is getting hard packed and they can barely scratch the ground.what else can i do?thanks in advance!

 

[Dar]

I have heard that the chickens may eat the straw and cause a crop impaction... I dont know how true this is... what about using something like wood chips? they are really cheap at the farm supply store... I pay $5 a bale and the bale is about the size of a bale of straw

 

[LegHorn-BusHorn]

I used straw in the past, but now using pine shavings. The straw was a little messy and held water. Dig up the straw and put more dirt in it. I added more dirt and sand and that was it, they love it. Doesn't smell or anything. Just dig up the dirt every once in a while and replace with more dirt. I hope this makes sense. I am new to this. Good luck!

 

[cmom]

Can you get alfalfa? I give my birds alfalfa and they love to scratch around in it and they eat the little green leaves off of the stems until I have nothing but stems left