Can Chickens Eat Grass?

I enjoyed this article. But I live in the desert southwest grass is scarce.

Thanks for writing this, it has some good ideas and considerations.

I can't say that I agree with the entirety of the article but it's not bad advice...
For those of us living in the southeast we have an abundance of Bahia grass with a healthy sprinkling of Spanish needle for good measure. Both of these are excellent grazing fodder and chickens absolutely love the flowers and seeds of the Spanish needle and the seed shoots from the Bahia. I also confirmed with a professor at FSU that the nutritional content of both is outstanding for chickens. I have seen my chickens laying consistently and with richer yolks than when their diet is strictly layer feed. As an added bonus they are much happier birds who haven't even shown the slightest bit of distress under the Florida sun.

You should not use grass clippings as bedding. Grass clippings if consumed can lead to impacted crop. Let chickens graze grass themselves as they can snip off enough to eat vs. gorging on clippings. Poor advice that reads like it was generated through AI.

So much good info on all aspects of grass eating and chickens. Mine go out daily in a confined area just for them. I watch them and they do pick and choose. It's a mixture of many types of weeds/grasses and I know that some isn't tasty for them. I use my weed eater to keep it at a good level but I will rake that up now.

I have a ? And a comment about the eating grass article. I used to use my cut grass in their run. It made a nice flooring and gave the girls some thing to dig through and eat. I loved it and helped us get rid of some grass and occupied them as well as made them a nice non muddy flooring. I have read several articles (Chicken magazine) about not giving them cut grass. This was because usually the grass is at least 2 inches long. The articles stated that it was too long and could cause sore crop?

Another thing to consider is that I got a rat infestation and piles of grass are where they live. Most of all the article suggests throwing feed in the run. This contributed to my rat problem. I now feed them treats and scratch in several large dishes in the run and collect the leftovers (there aren’t many). I only feed their food in the coop and in feeders. The automatic door only open at 7:30 so they eat a lot in morning, when waiting to enter a nest box and getting ready to roost in evening.

Just food for thought I was feeding the rats and giving them housing.

We have since been able to fix the problem. As long as I continue to be diligent.

Your thoughts?

Because of losing so many of my girls and boys to hawks and fox my chickens are confined to a pen--fairly large and with lots of poles that serve as a jungle jim to give low ladies in the pecking order plenty of escape room. To satisfy their urges for grass and bugs I pull clumps of grass and other weeds that I know they like, chick weed particularly, from the edges of my manure pile where is pulls easily. I carry the grass with large clumps of dirt down to the pen where they happily kick it apart searching for the earwigs, pillbugs, worms and grubs. I keep one of those little rakes next to the gate so that I can easily clean up the detritus when they are done with it. They only problem I've ever had is the occasional tangle around a foot and once or twice I had to pull a long strand of grass, that someone couldn't manage to swallow, out of a beak. The girls see me walking toward the pen, swarm the gate and start cackling happily because they know that special goodies are on the way. Several of them come right up to take Junebug grubs right out of my hand. Nice to know I've been doing right by them--keeping them safe from predators but satisfying their needs for greenery and bugs.

Good article. I have been more careful about letting my chickens out in the main yard after mowing. I had to put a few chickens down and found their crop and intestines packed with 2-3" green grass.

Our chickens love our back yard and our grass!! we had a lot of clover and dandelions in our yard before we got chickens now we have none just lush green grass

Yes! My chickens love to free range in/on our wild, poison free and natural ‘lawn’. Fresh nutrients and natural behaviour let my chickens thrive. They even take the young chicks out there if they have any/can.
So if they can’t free range, I cut a little grass into small piece’s to add to their menu.

This is a comprehensive overview of the benefits of giving backyard chickens access to grass. It emphasizes the need to avoid chemical treatments of the grass if chickens are to be given access to it, and the benefits of having weeds growing in it. Pasture-raised poultry is considered the best in many circles, both for egg and meat production, and is preferred by those with chicken welfare and ethical considerations in mind.

Not overstocking is the key to keeping the grass going when chickens are on it, and moving the pen/tractor daily if they're confined. They love grass and know it provides a lot of what they need; grass is only now getting scientific attention as a foodstuff, and the results include that most grass is at least 16% protein, for example. See e.g. https://businesswales.gov.wales/farmingconnect/land/grass/welsh-pasture-project/pasture-quality

Very good article. The best tasting chicken is grass fed. Know that in an 8x8 shelter, they have to move daily and they'll leave a barren desert behind

Very helpful article!