5 hens in 1/4 acre pen--how is the grass going to look? *update!*

[hipeatall]

Well, I've got 40+ chickens free ranging on one acre since March and I still have grass... and lot's of it... there are a couple of bare areas under trees where they love to take their dust baths

. I don't move them around in pens... they have the whole area to roam. I have even had to mow that a couple of times... they are by no means able to eat all my grass. No goats though... yet

... I've got my eye on a trio of Tennessee Wooden Leg Goats. I've read that they don't climb like goats usually do as they are aware of their condition.

 

[MrRushed]

That's a good sized area for 5 chickens, I don't think they'll rough it up too bad. The goat will distroy it quick. My neighbor had some goats and they are dirty, nasty, and smelly animals.
His would go inside thier house and poop, pee, and roll in it, I guess they like smelling really bad. Not to mention the flys were out of control.
Just my thoughts. Really nice set up your chickens will love it.

 

[RIBill]

My 6 chicks first got their 10ish'x15ish' run at 3 or 4 weeks old. Within a month and a half, it was all bare dirt. They ate all the chickweed, wild strawberries, wild violets and clover. They mostly ignored the grass as forage. It was really the scratching and manure that did the grass in. I would say you could make the chicken run a much smaller area than the full yard. Anything you can do to move the run every couple weeks will help the forage grow back.

 

[edselpdx]

Quote:
As a morning treat for the girls?

Moonscape. Use a moveable fencing system of some kind to rotate them through areas giving time for the grass to recover. I, too, thought there was enough space--NOT.

 

[Charlene]

I think the general rule of thumb with horses is that one horse can be sustained by an acre of grass. Average horse 1000lbs. Even if the chickens eat like twice as much as a horse, 5-8 pound chickens is only equivalent to 5% of a horse, 1/4 acre sounds like plenty. They will dig up little spots to rest in etc, but I don't think it'll be a moonscape. I have 5 and they spend most of the day in about 1/4 acre (though they sometimes jump the fence and go into the pasture) and it's still has lots of grass. It's rainy season in CA so things are really growing.

 

[NonnasBabies]

I really don't think 5 chickens will destroy the grass on 1/4 acre. We fenced in a little under a 1/2 an acre to keep the dogs in and that's the area my chickens free range in all day everyday and I have 49 and I still have a bunch of grass!! There are certain areas that are completly bare especially around the trees where they dust bath at and dig crater size holes.

This will give you a little of an idea.

 

[Tala]

If it's really a quarter acre, and you only have 5 hens, your grass will probably survive.

I have about 1/3 acre and had over 60 birds last spring. Granted the babies don't hurt the grass much though. I have Bermuda grass that is almost impossible to kill, so that helps too. The grass did FINE until it STOPPED raining. I'm talking drought conditions

but I have NO FEAR, I know it will return to life next spring!!! It's not torn up/gone, only dormant

Like others posted, they will make dustbaths especially around trees or under bushes and kill the grass in some places, but it shouldn't become a barren wasteland if you have a sturdy type of grass already well-established.

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

I have about a hundred birds freeranging in a 1 acre barn lot with 3 mini horses, & still have to mow it once a month in the summer. You have plenty of grass & the chickens & goats won't eat it all. Before my mini horses, I had 9 goats with my chickens.....& still mowed. A goat won't hardly eat grass, but every little weed will be plucked from the lawn. Goats eat weeds, sheep eat grass.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

If you lock up your chickens in a run, then all the grass will be gone. They will not turn ALL the grass into dirt though!

 

[Barred Rocks forever]

thers this new stuff that grows like really quickly i can think of the name ill have to check when i can
Quote:
As a morning treat for the girls?

Moonscape. Use a moveable fencing system of some kind to rotate them through areas giving time for the grass to recover. I, too, thought there was enough space--NOT.