Can you not have grass?

[catsew]

Can you not have grass for the run? I keep seeing all these posts about what to put in the bottom of the run. I was planning on just putting ours in the yard over whatever was already out there. Do I need to get rid of the grass and fill it with sand instead? The run is going to be 20 feet by 8 feet.

 

[BarefootMom]

you can have grass for awhile, the chickens will scratch it all up though.

 

[Urban Chaos]

no you can put your run over the grass. The grass is just not going to last. If you want grass in part of the run, place hardware cloth a over it (about an inch or so) so that the tops can get munched but the greens aren't killed.

 

[catsew]

BarefootMom - awesome blog. I LOVE the pictures. And the farm is just beautiful. Our garden beans are just starting to get flower buds, so it will be awhile before I can start canning.

 

[catsew]

Thanks. I guess I better decide if we want part grass or not. I know I won't be able to mow in there, and its not real nice lawn grass or anything, mostly just weeds. Since we still haven't 100% decided where we're going to put the coop, we still have some options.

 

[Squishypuff]

you won't need to mow in there, my chickens can turn a high, grassy area dead bare in less than a week. It never does grow back, unless I move them away from that spot.

 

[BarefootMom]

Quote:
Thanks! Just picked about 2 1/2 gallon more of beans a few minutes ago...

still have blooms too...

 

[gale65]

We have ours in an area with a lot of grass and weeds. They are getting it down though, mostly in their favorite hangout spots. About 1/4 of it maybe is starting to get more bare but the other side has lots still. Once the grass is all gone (minus the salad bar area we'll be building) we may put down gravel and sand or just leave it as dirt (dh's choice-it's easier on him. lol)

 

[gale65]

Quote:
Thanks! Just picked about 2 1/2 gallon more of beans a few minutes ago...

still have blooms too...

BarefootMom-are those wheat combining pictures from this year? DH is getting the combine ready to go and is hoping to combine wheat tomorrow. Do you throw the wheat shown in your hand to the chickens? If so I am going to arm dh with a bucket tomorrow and see if he'll bring some of it home before hauling it to the grain terminal.

 

[ContessaKris]

BareFootMom, love your blog too. Just added it to my Chicken farmers links page here: http://thosecrazyhomeschoolers.blogspot.com/p/chicken-farmers.html Hope that is okay.
(Gale65, I added yours as well!)

I've been wondering about this grass issue as well. We plan to make a chicken tractor for the chickens but I'm assuming we need to move it daily or something to keep them from ripping up all the grass? I just want them to 'trim' it! lol