Sod inside the run??

[HilltopFarm]

Quote:
Yea that was me, I figured I would give it a shot, a friend of mine had about half a pallet of sod he let die on the side of his house a couple of months ago. It was enough to cover my run twice!!!! I figured if anyone had extra and it was free why not??

 

[jonathansenn]

somebody may have already posted this, but they will make that expensive sod fancy dirt in no time. I would suggest putting grass clippings in the run from when you cut your grass. It gives them something to pick through, same as them free ranging (kinda), and keeps your yard clean.

 

[Omran]

I did that a while ago for my chicks, it lasted about 10 days, but hey I did not pay a peny for the sod, was left over from one landscape job I wa doing.

 

[YahKheena]

This is what I plan on doing:
http://www.urbanchickens.net/2010/01/fresh-grass-for-urban-chickens-all-year.html?m=1
Growing sod on trays inside, the article

 

[AZGardenFarmer]

* Was wondering about Sod. My 2 hens are bored to death. They scratch and snack at anything. After reading this, I was thinking about Sand but the problem is the little bit of Rain I get here, NW of Phoenix, would pick up the sand and haul it off. Maybe I'll just do a strip of Sod per coop. I had to separate my girls because 1 was picking on the other for a particular laying nest in the coop house. Any thoughts?¿ *

 

[HighStreetCoop]

* Was wondering about Sod. My 2 hens are bored to death. They scratch and snack at anything. After reading this, I was thinking about Sand but the problem is the little bit of Rain I get here, NW of Phoenix, would pick up the sand and haul it off. Maybe I'll just do a strip of Sod per coop. I had to separate my girls because 1 was picking on the other for a particular laying nest in the coop house. Any thoughts?¿ *

If you build a frame with wood and wire like the one below (not that I think most people need to buy plans for something like this!) you can keep sod or something grass-like alive for them.

http://www.mypetchicken.com/catalog...cken-Run-Raised-Bed-Building-Plans-p1248.aspx

 

[AZGardenFarmer]

* Thanks for the tip. I have some Finch Wire and scrap wood. Maybe make this and get some Strips of Sod and lay this over the Sod. ;-) *

 

[yyz0yyz0]

If you build a frame with wood and wire like the one below (not that I think most people need to buy plans for something like this!) you can keep sod or something grass-like alive for them.

http://www.mypetchicken.com/catalog...cken-Run-Raised-Bed-Building-Plans-p1248.aspx

I tried something similar to this last summer. Mine was not hinged and I placed them in the run and threw grass seed through the screen. Turned out not to work to well for me. With all the scratching and pooping the frames got filled with debris before the grass could sprout and they were buried too deep.

So I tried something different. I took the frames and placed them in a garden bed with a piece of sheetmetal under them. after the grass got up to a nice height I moved the whole thing into the run and after setting it down I pulled the sheet metal out from under the frame. This did seem to work better than seeding the frames in the run but because the soil level was up to the screen the birds were able to just pull the grass out.
So this summer I plan to try again. This time I'll use the garden start method again but I'll build the frames with 2x6's instead of 2x4's which should give me more room to grow and still keep the soil surface away from the girls. Another thing I plan to try is to let the grass grow longer and get a denser root structure.

If this works I plan to leave the frame in the run till the grass is looking kinda sad and then just remove the frame and let them have at the root zone while i replant the frames in the garden again.

 

[icprnss78]

I was wondering myself is sod is ok? (Like the store bought kind) I am growing my own so I know it's chemical free but in the meantime I did purchase a roll of sod from Lowes for them to have. I put it in there for about 5 minutes until it occured to me there may be chemicals! (Freak out moment!) I took it out and relocated it to my back yard. I sprayed it down real well with water. If I rinse it for like a week, do you think it will be ok to put back in their coop?

 

[St Pete Chick]

I know this is an old post but I'm pretty sure I just lost 2 of my pullets today due to the new sod we put in the run. We had a bad storm 3 weeks ago and it got real muddy in there so we decided to make the ground higher with sod. Within 10 days 2 of the 3 hens I had croaked the same way. Perfectly normal one day, listless in the morning, unable to stand then dead by noon. Do not chance it. Sod is treated for bugs that is toxic to chickens. better to safe, than sorry. Lost my best girl as she died in my lap within minutes.