Jesterpoop: How big an area are you planning to cover with sod? How many chickens in how big of a yard? If you can fence the chickens away from the newly sodded area long enough for it to be established, then allow limited access, you might be ok. Does your back yard no longer have sod because the chickens have destroyed it, or is there a different reason? What ever the reason, and this is a stab in the dark, because I haven't seen your yard, and have no idea why there is no grass in the back yard... but if the underlying cause is not fixed, you might be wasting your money, because the new sod will go the way of the old. An other thought is: when you lay the sod you could put a temporary covering of netting or chicken wire over it to keep the chickens from digging it up. It would have to be very short term, because the grass will grow through it and tangle in it, and make mowing a hazard.
Grandmaredlocks: I'd love to have that area in my yard! Especially with your future plans for it! If you fence the chickens into the area, they'll scratch it up very nicely, especially if you sprinkle some cracked corn in the heavily vegetated areas. They'll also fertilize it for you, then you can make your beds and do your planting. I'd like to suggest that you look at the lasagna gardening concept for your veggies, and even put a deep mulch over the entire area. Check out the "back to Eden" film. I think it might be on you-tube. If you google it, you'll find it. If you use these 2 concepts, you may not even need to use a tiller to accomplish your goals, nor will you need to remove all of the vegetation before planting.
Grandmaredlocks: I'd love to have that area in my yard! Especially with your future plans for it! If you fence the chickens into the area, they'll scratch it up very nicely, especially if you sprinkle some cracked corn in the heavily vegetated areas. They'll also fertilize it for you, then you can make your beds and do your planting. I'd like to suggest that you look at the lasagna gardening concept for your veggies, and even put a deep mulch over the entire area. Check out the "back to Eden" film. I think it might be on you-tube. If you google it, you'll find it. If you use these 2 concepts, you may not even need to use a tiller to accomplish your goals, nor will you need to remove all of the vegetation before planting.
