You might find it necessary to put some hardware cloth on top of those raised beds to keep the hens from scratching everything out. The winter rye I plant for their "grass appetite" then grows through the hardware cloth when it gets taller and the hens peck and mow it down. It grows more and they mow more, sometimes picking the whole piece out by the roots, but a lot stay in place to grow another day. After a time, I remove the hardware cloth and let them "have at it." It is great fun for them.On another note, for those of us who do have the luxury of lawns and mowing them, as long as you don't use chemicals on your lawn, catch the grass and distribute it in different areas in their hutch/coop/run. They will spread it out in no time flat and then eat it up like candy. I always dry a garbage bag full of it for use in the winter, when they have no outside access. I mist the bag and shake it about 4-5 times and then pile it in the coop. They go bonkers, especially in the winter got those greens and what they do not eat, mixes with the deep littler method I use for winter and keeps the ammonia smell that used to arrive about mid March away. I am not scientist, but something about the grass and nitrogen making all well in the coop. Just a thought for us lawn folks.
