Adjusting Lawn Mowing to Improve Forage Quality for Chickens

[centrarchid]

This concept does not fit anywhere well so here it is.

Last I mowed lawn I made so two or more passes of cuttings were used to form windrows. After a week those windrows are very interesting to free-range chickens that concentrate their foraging efforts on those locations. In addition to the concentrations off isopods / pillbugs / rollie-pollies, they are getting lots of cut worms. My broody hens let me get down and close while foraging so I starting watching what their chicks where consuming. Then I did some scratching by hand and the chicks came over to me as well. They were really into the cut worms that were fairly abundant. This will be repeated in a part of yard where looks not so critical.

 

[azygous]

Waiting for the photos.

 

[centrarchid]

I will have to mow again for that. Birds totally destroyed my preliminary trial patch.

 

[centrarchid]

You can barely make out what were windrows.

Closeup showing how grass piles moved about.

Lawn a mix of legumes, grasses and other low growing forbs. It is one a typical neighborhood association would issue fines for.

 

[azygous]

I have to get off my backside and mow some grass tomorrow, and I'll turn the flock loose on it afterward and watch what they do.

 

[centrarchid]

I takes the cutworms if present a couple days to concentrate under cuttings. Cutworms everywhere already but cuttings provide a daytime cover the chickens can search through quickly with high rate of return.