Do chickens destroy your lawn?

Late to this party, but I free range around 10 chickens in my yard (no more than 1/4 acre) for a few hours each day. They will dig up any garden or flower beds they can get to, so I've fenced those off with garden wire, but my lawn looks better than it ever has. They eat all but 2 kinds of weeds, eat the bugs, and provide fertilizer. I've caught them dust bathing in raised planters but most of their hole digging and dust bathing happens in their run, which has a dirt floor. One of these days they are going to reach China.

I'm sure if they had full access to my yard they'd do more damage, but they've been great for the lawn in their limited access.

I have 6 chickens that free range (the others are still too small) and I live on 4 acres. They stay on about 1 acre and my yard looks fine. But I would also suggest getting a box of dirt for them to dirt bathe in.

Depends on how you define the word "destroy"!

Personally, I would not want our chickens around the house and manicured lawn to scratch and dig in the flower beds and poop on the deck, sidewalk, and parked cars! Free ranging is great for the birds and best within a fenced area where you can control the "destruction".

Yes! Our 6 chickens have done some pretty extensive damage to our lawn. A large percentage of thier poop is grass, so its no wonder. It would probably help if i gave them more fresh greens to eat, actually. They love it when i do give them that. It would also help if I confined them to their own run most of the time, but i love how happy they look roaming around my yard. They have never dug any holes in the lawn. They do that in the
areas under my hedges and in winter in the area i plant veggies in summer. Most of the grass is currently very hin with dirt showing through. They of course poop a lot, on my lawn, walkway, and porch. I used to water it all into the grass, but now i think its too much. Started to smell and too strong for the grass, plus have to ration water now due to draught. Now i go aroung picking it all up and composting it.

I am actually using a chicken tractor as part of my lawn improvement plan. I am actually counting on them wreaking havoc on the grass as I move the tractor new seed will put down. We had some renters a while back kill the back yard. I saw a guy do this and he had the most amazing lawn. It looked like a pga golf course. and moving everyday the birds were actually dethatching the grass. And no bugs.

I've also started to notice our grass getting duller and emptier on their side of the garden. And sometimes a lot of their poop would be grass.

However, Does their poop act as compost and give nutrition to what remaining grass is left?

I have 22. Our lot is 130'x150'. They have been let almost outside every day for 3 years, even in the snow, (only days they aren't are when we are out of town and our little "chicken sitter" is in charge) and aside from them turning one small area that used to be pretty wimpy flower bed into a dust bath area we have had no issues.




That said, in your situation I don't think I'd want to be pushing against the landlord too hard. He's letting you have some, which is more than many would do, and asking you to protect the property he's renting to you isn't too much to ask, in my opinion. Our chickens are a lot like our dogs - just because we love them doesn't mean everybody else has to.

I have always maintained that a chicken owner's best friend is a good run. Yes, they'll decimate the spot it sits on in short order, but if you can reassure the landlord that you will return that spot to it's original condition (in writing, if he insists) and then do that, you'll sure go a long way toward being able to enjoy your birds and your good terms with your landlord. That, in turn, will help the next renter on that property who might want some chickens and give you a good reference if you move and would like to take your chickens with you.

Mine, as I said, are out most of the time and have the entire yard to wander in. But the run I have for them is the best part of my setup. Bags and bags of dried leaves, (little twigs even included), maybe some chopped straw, although not too much of that, grass clippings, garden prunings...whatever you have on hand. That will form a great compost, prevent odors, and give you a nutrient rich spot to replant grass when you leave. Win, win!

How much the lawn will be damaged depends on the proportion of lawn area to chickens. They do eat a lot of grass, and also like to hollow out little holes to dust bathe in, so if I was renting I would not let them access the lawn. The poop is also too caustic for the lawn until after it's composted, so contrary to popular belief, fresh undiluted chicken poo is not great fertilizer-- especially if you live in an area with little rain like I do. I used to give my 9 hens free range of my lawn, which is quite large. Over time, it was showing the effects. Now I have an area where I grown some fruit trees for them to run around in, with direct access from their very large enclosed coop. When my gardener mows my lawn every couple of weeks, I have him dump the lawn clippings into this run area, so my birds still get plenty of forage. Only on Sundays do we let them out on the lawn for a couple of hours, and afterwards I pick up their poops and put them into my chicken poo composter. It's the best of both worlds, I think.: )


My coop with shredded bark area in front. All area in front of bark
in direction I'm standing to take photo is lawn. You can see how
bad it was looking right up to the bark. It was DECIMATED near
the coop. which is why we chose to replace with bark. It's now
come back via re-seeding and is very lush.
To right of coop through my ugly wooden gate is my fruit tree area
where they love to nestle under the hedges along the side of my
wrap-around porch and under the fruit trees. Gardner dumps lawn
clippings in their twice monthly.


Entrance to fruit tree/ run area from coop.
Note pulley system I can use to open hatch without going into run in the morning.


Sunday Promenade


Our Silkie, Effie, with "her" new chicks we let her raise this past
Summer, enjoying the fruit tree/ run area. This photo only shows
about 1/4 of the space. As you can see there are plenty of bushes
to forage for tasty bugs.: )
This setup has really saved my lawn and saved me time picking chicken
poop. No fun for kids to step in poo when running out to jump on the
trampoline!

Our lawn is looking better, actually. We have about an acre of lawn and an acre of semi-wooded land and they roam about all of it. The grass is greener. I did have to fence off the garden and I've noticed that they like the bathe under a shrub.