Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

Last year when we ran out of the good stuff, we purchased some straw from our local feed store.
It wasn't really good enough to use as bedding the stems were stiff and thick and it appeared as if the grain was never threshed in the first place, used it for outside as needed to cover ground, plenty of entertainment value and grain to pick at.
After the last rain there appeared to be an extra bonus, the grain has sprouted, as I hoped it would :)

that's very interesting. Hmmm.

I have some hay that I keep dry under the deck. For experimental sake I think I'll water it.

Hay won't sprout like straw will.

Last year I had a bunch of grain sprout in the dust bathing area (I had straw dumped there for the winter). The chickens absolutely loved hanging out there, having a bath and eating and the grains :)

Straw bale gardens . Never did get mine planted . Luck

goatgal35 wrote:QR_BBPOST Hay won't sprout like straw will.

Meant straw :)

Mind you I've had mine in with the raised beds and it hadn't sprouted. Hmmmm.

It might have lost in my original post, but this "straw" hasn't been threshed, so the grain is still in it.
Its the actual grain thats sprouting.
Most straw will have few grains left, but not this much.
The bails are now starting to look like giant hedge hogs. :)

More like giant Giapets!! LOL

Nice tasty, tender treats for the chickens :lunch:

Chia pet, haven't thought of that, perfect description FRF
This stuff just keeps on giving, 3 days later a bit of rain and wait..there is more :)
another unexpected bonus, I tip it ocasionally so it doesn't go moldy on the bottom and there are worms hanging out of the other side, perfect protein and veg combo There was some excitement in the corner of the run so went to look, prety brazen chipmunk was checking out the chicken goodies until one of the large cockerels spotted him and tried to get a closer look and the chase was on, pretty funny to watch

About 3 years ago we bought a bunch of small square bales of hay for the pigs. When we were unloading, it was obvious that it had been sitting somewhere wet for a little too long as every bale had black and/or white mold on the bottom, so we stacked it half out in the elements to make straw bale gardens the following year and bought better stuff for feed. The moldy bales sagged and melted and grew mushrooms appropriately to rotting hay, so we built our bale gardens and dutifully watered and planted. And damned if they didn't sprout various grasses all over the place. and I had to weed my bale gardens. But anyway, I was wondering, what is the official distinction between 'hay' and 'straw'? I always thought straw was simply old infertile hay, and/or threshed stalks from grain crops. Meaning it shouldn't sprout, or at least not much, especially if old.