Can I give my chickens any kind of green grass

[denco5]

I have 18 chickens, a mix of all kinds. They are not able to free range due to several hawks in the area. they do have a nice 30 X 40 run that they enjoy. The run is now all dirt no grass. Can I pull grass of any kind and feed to them? Does it need to be cut up in smaller pieces or will they take care of it all by themselves?

 

[FarmerDenise]

Tender little bits of grass are best IMO. But they can eat all kinds of grass. You can run into trouble with long tough grasses. They can get stuck in the crop and cause a stoppage which then ends up in "sour crop". I usually try to pull up the grass, roots and all for my chickens. That way they have a better chance of pulling off bits of grass. But I do give them everything I pull up, even if it is timothy and breaks off at the roots. I have not had that much trouble with long tough grasses. Maybe because they also get a lot of dirt with the roots of at least some of the grass. We also feed a lot of weeds. We just pull what we have and feed it to them.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

So long as it's not too rank and tough I always just pulled whatever was handy and fed it. It's best when it's young and tender.

 

[swimmer]

Make sure they have some grit along with the grass.

 

[squiqwe]

does the run get enough light to growclover? If so I would spilt it in half and grow clover my girls luv it. it takes only a couple weeks to grow. after clearing the garden I planted it. now with the snow I just clear snow off a patch and sod cut a couple of shovel fulls.

 

[abhaya]

I rake up my grass clippings and dump them in the run thet gobble them up in no time. Greens are good for chickens

 

[gavinandallison]

Does that include clippings from a ride on mower?

 

[abhaya]

Quote:
yep if I had a bagger I wouldnt have to rake lol. My free range birds eat grass all the time.

 

[Petej]

I don't bag my clippings, I let the chickens do that part!

They love it when I mow the lawn!

 

[krazeepolack]

Quote:
yep if I had a bagger I wouldnt have to rake lol. My free range birds eat grass all the time.

I have a neighbor 1/2 mile down the road that grows grass on his desert property. (very adept green thumb) He gives me the clippings(usually within the hour) & I give him chicken droppings. I toss in the clippings, & the girls

work it over instantly.