Luvachicken Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 I've been thinking about getting the girls a bale of straw to sit on and peck at. Trouble is, hubby has said they are too big and asked how I would keep it clean if they pooped on it - especially one of those curry poops So my questions are, do any farmers make smaller bales than the one I usually get for our rabbit ? Hubby said we could cut a bale in half but I'm not sure we'd ever be able to tie it as tight as the tractor does. And how would I get yucky poops off it? Would they really benefit from having a straw bale to play on or would they rather have the space it would take up ? When I had my original Omlet girls one of them ate/tried to swallow a really long piece of straw which I managed to get off her, but I would worry that it would get tangled in their crop - does straw pose a problem ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavenders_Blue Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 I wouldn't worry too much about the girls pooing on it - you can just pull that bit of straw out of the bale if it concerns you. Straw is baled in sections (like slices ) so if you untie the bale it will be easy to divide if you want to. It might be a bit fiddly to retie and you won't get it as tight as it was originally baled, but again I doubt that would be a problem. I often use straw in my nest boxes and have never had a problem with the girls eating it, but I can't imagine it would be good for them as each stalk is long and quite tough - maybe hang up some other distractions such as cabbages or lettuces? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickabee Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 In my experience (I used to have horses) once you open a bale of straw it ca be a nightmare to retie. Some of them are so tight they ping open when you untie the bailing twine. I don't see why your girls shouldn't have a bale to sit on though. It's a nice natural addition. If the poop gets too bad you could just turn it over Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulad Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 we have had a straw bale in the WIR on occasions - the chucks love it - they peck it and use it to jump on and off. Yes they poo on it but we just turn it over every so often Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted April 8, 2014 Author Share Posted April 8, 2014 Thank you Paula and Chickabee. Might just have to get them one then One other thing, someone mentioned they could get mites from straw - would that happen if the bale is left whole ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickabee Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 Mummy I'm not sure about that. I used to use straw in the run all the time, without any problems. I think it's suggested that it's a problem if you use it in the nest box Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
