Alternatives to grass

[U_Stormcrow]

Good advice above. Build a tray with PT lumber (boy is it expensive right now), cover with hardware cloth or similar (so size your tray based on the "height" of the metal cloth roll), and screw it together well enough that you can easily pick it up and move it. Make as many trays as amuses you to do so.

Set the tray on a bare spot of ground, add seeds, barely cover. Keep moist.
Eventually, it will sprout, the chickens can only eat down to the distance their beaks can penetrate the screen. Roots protected from scratching behaviors.

Clover, btw, is far superior to grass. There are numerous varieties, which bloom at different times. Flax, vetch also good. Orchard Grass tolerates part shade well, and the discount bags of annual rye, now that winter is over for most of the nation.... Honestly, many "cover crop" blends will do well for this, and are relatively inexpensive in bulk. If it says "deer plot" its probably quite good as well - but carries a price premium. Everyone knows the start of hunting season is a day in Michigan where no one shows up at work. I assume upstate NY is likely similar???

 

[sandburRanch]

Feed the baled alfalfa 1 flake at a time hanging in netting .

 

[DonyaQuick]

Could of not been straight alfalfa.

I wondered that. I just couldn't find any bits of plant in there that didn't look like alfalfa. Dust from something else could be enough though I guess; if the alfalfa bag was packed around similar bags of timothy sending dust off, that could well be what got me. Although it's not cost effective as an option for chickens, I see there are small bags of pure alfalfa that are used for tea and I would imagine those are pretty pure, so I may see if I can get one of those for a sniff test to see if it's really that or not.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Good advice above. Build a tray with PT lumber (boy is it expensive right now), cover with hardware cloth or similar (so size your tray based on the "height" of the metal cloth roll), and screw it together well enough that you can easily pick it up and move it. Make as many trays as amuses you to do so.

Set the tray on a bare spot of ground, add seeds, barely cover. Keep moist.
Eventually, it will sprout, the chickens can only eat down to the distance their beaks can penetrate the screen. Roots protected from scratching behaviors.

Clover, btw, is far superior to grass. There are numerous varieties, which bloom at different times. Flax, vetch also good. Orchard Grass tolerates part shade well, and the discount bags of annual rye, now that winter is over for most of the nation.... Honestly, many "cover crop" blends will do well for this, and are relatively inexpensive in bulk. If it says "deer plot" its probably quite good as well - but carries a price premium. Everyone knows the start of hunting season is a day in Michigan where no one shows up at work. I assume upstate NY is likely similar???

It would be hard for me to do the trays in the enclosed chicken area mostly because it's all covered - so I'm not sure enough light would get in except right at the sides. It's an area that has trouble growing grass anyway, even before I put tarps on for a makeshift roof. The benefit is lots of shade from a couple large trees when it's hot, but for the same reason hardly anything seems to be able to get growing even outside the enclosure for a ways. The stuff my chickens desperately want to go rip apart is outside in a sunny field where I used to let them semi-free-range (not right now for obvious reasons other than the grass being in poor shape). It's such big space out there I'd need a ton of trays to protect a reasonable portion and it's going to be fragile for probably another month or so. On times when they've escaped past me they've already managed to tear things up at an alarming rate in places.

But...it does give me an idea. I might be able to do those long plastic planter things along the one edge of the enclosure that has sun peek in for about half the day. And I could make some kind of hardware cloth "lid" with wood on the sides to protect the jaggy edges. This would also have the added perk of possibly stopping or at least inhibiting the constant dig dig dig they're obsessed with along that same edge.

I've indeed seen some deer seed stuff around. The orchard grass idea is also appealing because I know for sure I'm not allergic to that and that's what my chickens have been fond of as hay over the winter.

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

Good ideas already given. If that doesn't work, then leave them to their commercial feed - it has all the nutrients they need, anything else is a bonus they don't have to have. And don't let them bully you. It's like kids - they'll beg you for candy and climb to the top shelf to get it, but that doesn't mean you should give it to them

So much easier said than done and i AlWAyS appreciate the ' gentle' reminder Thank you Kokoshka!

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

Fodder.. it’s very easy to sprout your own seed.. look on Amazon for sprouting lids, they are mesh lids that work with mason jar rings.. or make your own.. you can sprout a jar of seed in 5 days, stagger them according to your birds/needs.. you can sprout in a 5 gallon bucket too.. or in flat trays.. depending on how many sprouts you may need.. and they are good for us too.. I sprout salad mix, BOSS, collards, turnips, alfalfa, broccoli, spinach, mung beans, peas, beans all kinds of healthy snack options for us and them..

Cool!,what medium do you grow in? I grow wheatgrass indoors during the winter, and grow it in coco. its another chore thats tough to maintain tho. A real routine is what i need. This will be my second winter with a backyard flock of 5. Last year I was so nervous about the cold/snow weather, but this year not so much. They are big girls now

 

[sandburRanch]

When handling anything that may cause allergies try a dust mask .