Desert Foraging? High Desert, not much vegetation

[PiTownPeep]

I live in the high desert of California and am starting a brand new flock this month. The coop is set up with insulation and ventilation for the heat, and the snow in the winter. I want to build them an outdoor area however I don't know they'd find much to do out there. Here's a picture of the "vegetation" (I use that term in a very loose sense!) so I don't know if they'd be happy enough to spend any time out there. We do have number of bugs though... predominately the ones in the picture, I don't know what they are, but they are everywhere (making whoopie in this pic I think). We have a few camel spiders, black widows and ground beetles as well as a million of the little white yucca moths.

Are there any fellow desert folks here that can help me decide if it's worth the expense to give them an outdoor run?

I will have 15 birds and was contemplating a 15x10 enclosure with good quality shadecloth over the wire roof on 2/3 of it. They would have plentiful cool water from an insulated gravity jug water/nipple system as well.

 

[SavageDestiny]

Absolutely worth it. They'll probably find more than you think to scavenge out there, and they will LOVE catching bugs. Aside from all that, getting outdoors is pretty vital to their health and mental well being.

 

[USMC-MSgt-ret]

I let my chickens forage in our back yard when my hunter-chihuahuas are inside. They pick around for quite a bit, and sometimes we add a but of cabbage to help out . We live in Yucca Valley.

 

[Sarevan]

Your area looks drier than where I live for high desert. Our chickens have a run, they find bugs and the occasional lizard that gets in the run. They chase the lizard and if they catch it, it is a feeding frenzy it gets torn apart fairly quickly. They have access to feed and water all day besides what gets into the run.

I want to make a movable run to put over the bunch grass, smaller sagebrush, and weed grasses. They go nuts for the weeds I toss in for them, so would like them to do the work of knocking down the weeds. I can't let them free range too many flying, 4 legged predators in area.

Other thing they like is the alkaline ground, they dust bathe in it. The hard ground helps keep the claws trimmed back when they scratch on the ground. In the heat of the day they are in the shade lounging around in the areas I soaked down with the garden hose. Not giving them an outside area would drive them even more nutty than what they have become to be.

 

[donrae]

Are you saying if you don't build an outdoor run, the birds will be confined solely to the coop? that's a bad idea, unless the coop is massively huge. Chickens need lots of space, that's what the run is for. They'll decimate the population in the run fairly quick, so it's not a nutritional source, it's an emotional well being issue.

 

[Davaroo]

Really spot on replies!

Id only add this:
It's a mistake we make in supposing livestock (including chickens) have everything they need on "range."
Unless we have infinite land they can rotate to, coupled with rigorous management, this is almost never the case.

Even then, the seasons change, and the forage changes with it - usually becoming more scarce. Chickens. especially, are notorious for decimating an area of edibles, cherry picking ever farther afield to satisfy their hunger. Soon, they either succumb to predation during their wanderings, or travel so far that they cannot get enough calories to make it worth while.

This means you should plan to supplement your birds' food NO MATTER how you intend to provide for their elbow room. Partial confinement with limited, managed foraging is best.

That single concept, "free range," has probably seen more harm and reduced benefit fall upon our flocks than any other.

 

[Michael Apple]

Like the high desert, pasture dries if it isn't irrigated. Grass turns brown and there isn't much green forage in Summer and Autumn. If you garden, grow some kale and spinach, or buy it from the store. I supplement greens during these times of year and the birds benefit from it. A 15' x 10' yard will be too cramped for 15 birds in my opinion. I range mine as much as I can, but it is better to allow plenty of space for the days you cannot range them. One of my yards is 25' x 40', has an 8' x 10' coop for 13 birds right now, and have found they are quite comfortable and easier to manage.

 

[PiTownPeep]

Thanks everyone! I plan on giving them feed and treats and wasn't thinking they'd get much nutritionally from the sparse desert. I guess my question was more about if they would like being outside and the answer is a YES! I would like to give them a larger run however I do t have the money right now to buy fencing and we have a lot of predators to worry about. At night they'll be in the coop but I was hoping they would enjoy some fresh air and outside time every day. I have to save up for more fencing. For what I want to do its about five hundred bucks and the monthly disability check doesn't stretch very far