450 square ft run and grass...

[Panhandler80]

I'm pretty sure I already know the answer to this, but...

15 hens will turn a 450 square foot run of grass into dirt in fairly short order, won't they? They will be free ranged some, but not enough to matter, I'm sure. I mean, I know one chicken would turn a 5.5 x 5.5 grassy patch into dirt in no time and that's the ratio I'm looking at. Starting to think that maybe I should start with a smaller flock. I really don't feel like battling the mud situation. The run is on a decent grade over soil that drains moderately well. So I'll get some sheeting of water, and the ground will take some as well. Plan to cover maybe a third of it. Rest of it will be 100% hardware cloth (roof, walls and buried flange as a skirt).

EDIT: Looking at 15 multi colored layer package from Cackle Hatchery for birds. Some decent information here... that I found AFTER posting. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/how-many-square-feet-in-run-chicken-to-keep-grass.478282/

 

[Matilda Belle]

Whether it's 5 hens or 15 hens, they will kill all the grass in the run and, yes, there will be mud. I put pine shavings in my run and that works for me. I also made grazing boxes so they can have fresh grass but not kill the grass.

 

[Panhandler80]

Yep. Sounds like we better start looking forward to dirt in the run, and that this would occur with even just a few hens. Question answered. Oh well.

There's an additional .42 acres they'll be able to free range some evenings and portion of the weekend which may help a little, but a destroyed run area at 30 sq ft / bird is clearly inevitable. Oh well.

 

[Panhandler80]

If I'm going to have to cover the whole thing in pine shavings, and eventually remove them and replace, I may build the run a little smaller. Starting to wish I'd scaled the whole dang thing back form the get go. I guess nothing wrong with having too big of a house for them, but dang.

 

[Matilda Belle]

If I'm going to have to cover the whole thing in pine shavings, and eventually remove them and replace, I may build the run a little smaller. Starting to wish I'd scaled the whole dang thing back form the get go. I guess nothing wrong with having too big of a house for them, but dang.

Covering it would help with the mud. I have mine partially covered.

 

[ValerieJ]

I have a 4,000 sf run for 12 chickens and it is mostly dirt and mud in the winter, but in the spring the grass and weeds start growing back. You could put some growing cages in your run and move them around as things grow under them. I find regular local weeds and forest ground cover to work better than grass itself.

In the winter, I buy bales of straw and spread around the run, either in pathways to give them and me places to walk, or all over if it's really bad. This year it's really wet, so I have done that and it works fairly well. I keep a few sheltered areas where they can get out of the rain and still be outside.

In a couple months, I'm going to rake up the straw (I know - big job) and put down wild grass seed, then cover that with straw again, just to encourage some green growth. I like to have it green out there. This photo is from last summer; you can see that the greenery does come back, albeit a little patchy.

 

[ValerieJ]

If I'm going to have to cover the whole thing in pine shavings, and eventually remove them and replace, I may build the run a little smaller. Starting to wish I'd scaled the whole dang thing back form the get go. I guess nothing wrong with having too big of a house for them, but dang.

No, I think you cannot have to large of a run. The larger the run, the happier the chickens! You need space to put in obstacles and places for the lesser ones in the pecking order to get away from any aggressors. You are doing the right thing giving them the space you are! And you will have it partially covered. But, again, I go with straw. Works much better in the run than pine shavings. Some people will add wood chips in too and I'm thinking about doing that this year.

 

[CatWhisperer]

My run is totally covered, with some overhang. Never been muddy. It had pine shavings for 6 years then I sodded it last year. It’s still full of dead grass because my chickens free range on about 0.3 acre fenced area during the day. If the grass doesn’t come back this spring I may resod it, we’ll see. If you don’t want mud, I recommend roofing your run.

 

[Matilda Belle]

I agree with @ValerieJ that your chickens can never have too much space. BTW, Valerie, your run is amazing. I'm jealous.

 

[ValerieJ]

I agree with @ValerieJ that your chickens can never have too much space. BTW, Valerie, your run is amazing. I'm jealous.

Thanks. It's a very small orchard actually. I thought I could combine the two and it would be a win/win. Mostly it is.