I have had 3 chickens since November and I have 4 ten week old chicks .... do I need to do anything to the 73ft of lawn and 17ft of gravel area that they free range in ? its about 16ft wide at its narrowest part... once they are all integrated in together should I only let them have half the area at a time and let the other area rest.... and if so for how long? its probably a daft question, but any advice greatly appreciated... cheers Alex
personally you have to make the decision to suit your and your neighborhood's needs. But I, myself, would build a run attached to the coop. And then let them out for limited amounts of time. If left out free ranging, they will destroy nearly all plants and any garden. Many people on here use a moveable tractor, and drag it around the yard, but that does not work for me.
Room wise thats plenty but they will get into flower beds and gardens and destroy what you want and wont touch what you dont want...
Thank you ... I have a movable coop with wheels that has a run attached ... However I have no plants that I am concerned about and the veg patch is fenced off anyways... I was just wondering if the grass would eventually harbor nasty bugs etc from having chickens roaming and pooing on it all year... ? I read somewhere about liming your soil etc but I wasn't sure if this was an old fashioned thing... I suppose when we do get some snow in the winter or hard ground frost that will kill off any nasties that might have built up... cheers Alex
I have 300+ acres...mine free range all day, dawn to dusk...so far they are doing great work on my weeds! They have not found my yard, but they will dig and make themselves comfy in dust baths etc... I haven't done anything to my soil...we keep cows, and horses, and they roam all over the area with them.
