How much room to still have grass? - Page 2

I have 24 chickens in a fenced in area- about 1/2 acre.  They have made it look like the surface of the moon!!  The other day I was observing them digging around.  I was wondering how many bugs could possibly be in the dirt... Well, as I watched I saw what they were after... They are digging up and eating tiny green shoots, before they even emerge out of the soil.  Any hopes I had for anything green, went up in smoke!!  I will say, we planted about 10 baby pine trees last year, and they have not bothered them.  They also left the new lilacs alone-but they are not green yet, so we will see if they make it this spring.  I always kind of chuckle when people think chickens are good for their lawn.  Maybe 1 or 2- but not a load of them!  Enjoy!

Davaroo (he hasn't been around here lately, has he? did he ever replace his chickens?) always claimed that the number was in the multiple hundreds of square feet per chicken. I don't personally know but would guess that's probably not far off.

Remember, also that you will NOT keep the WHOLE thing grassy no matter how large the area is -- certain parts (like near the coop, and under shade) will get overused and worn/eaten down, and dusting holes will appear, no matter what.

You can maintain two or more 'parallel' areas and practice 'rotational grazing' if you want, which will help, but again that requires a lot more area than most people have.

And the bigger your area, the less you can predatorproof it (especially vs hawks, but also vs loose dogs and other daytime fourlegged predators)

BTW I will add a third mechanism to Ridgerunner's list of 'chickens versus grass' -- they compact the soil over time (mechanisms multiple and somewhat complex) which creates really poor conditions for grass growth.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

Stamper,

I figured a 66' x 66' would be 4356 sq. ft. and I could have about 30 chickens at the 145.2 per bird.

Scott

I'm fencing in an acre this week. I'll let you know how it goes...

Christine,

Wow, an acre ... what / how are you fencing?

Scott

I put 6 birds in a 45' by 12 foot area a month ago and it is almost gone.  Whew! they are some excavators.  Jean

I have 4 hens in my backyard. They freerange from 7am till 9pm. The yard is about 75ft X 65ft with about 1/2 being grass with some weeds and moss thrown in. They haven't caused any damage to any plant or lawn, except I think they just dug up a cranberry plant last week. There is also lots of flowers and shrubs that they haven't bothered. I think it's because I have few hens with lots of space and distractions.

imp

We're going to use welded wire with t posts and an electric fence for keeping coyotes and dogs at bay. In my defence, I'm also planning to get a few small Shetland sheep later this summer that will go in there too. So I'm not completely crazy for giving my chickens an acre. Only slightly crazy. LOL

I have about 1/2 acre fenced and 18 chickens have it looking like the Iraqi desert. I beleive there is no way to keep grass unless you have a pasture to let them free range

Quote:

Originally Posted by funkychickenowner 

I have about 1/2 acre fenced and 18 chickens have it looking like the Iraqi desert. I beleive there is no way to keep grass unless you have a pasture to let them free range

I have an idea I might try this spring/summer.. I'd like to put hardware mesh about 3 to 6 inches off the ground, so the chickens can peck off the top of the grass (much like a lawn mower) but leave the base and roots unharmed. Whenever the grass grows tall enough to poke through they can eat it.

Also, the poop can still fall through the hardware mesh and fertilize the soil.

I plan on giving them a 'sandbox' for them to scratch, dust bathe, and dig to china in. Happy chickens, plus GREEN grass! LOL

Jenne