Hay!!

[Frana]

Just a quickie - anyone know where I can buy a couple of bales of hay for my girls from?

Apparently it will be cheaper than bags of straw from my usual supplier! - I am in the Sandwell borough of West Midlands.

[bearded bloke]

Presumably you want this for nest box/coop floor,if so shredded paper works well

[Nicos]

I may seem mad- but I always buy pet shop hay ( using shavings elsewhere)
I used to have a horse in the UK and as we bred bunnies I started using his hay instead of buying 'treated' hay.
Needless to say- the bunnies used to regularly get mites from the untreated hay...so I went back to the more expensive stuff

Because of this, I've never used hay for my chooks- or bunnies- since.

[Glutton4...]

Most people advise not using Hay for Chooks.

I use horse bedding - go to your nearest horse feed stockist. For around £7-8 yuo can get a bale, which lasts for ages. I have a 6' x 4' shed, and only use about two bales a year. The brand I use is called B€d D0wn, and is shavings mixed in with finely chopped straw - it has been treated with a citrus smelling antibacterial agent, and smells lovely. I use it in the nest-boxes, and a thin layer on the coop floor. The Chooks like picking out the gritty bits if you sprinkle some outside for them, too.

[elizajay]

I use that bedding too (or whatever horse bedding is cheapest at the time). I like it because they use material that would otherwise be a waste product such as shredded rape stalks. It does smell good! And it composts well when mixed with other stuff. In winter when there is no fly problem I toss a pile in a flower bed when I clean out the chook house and they spread it as a mulch for me. It disappears quite quickly.

The chooks have taken to scratching it out of the pop hole in their excitement when I clean out and give them fresh bedding. I put a piece of wood inside the door as a sill, next thing that was out in the run too. Little b***ers!