Do chickens and grass mix ?

[obi wan henobi]

Hello all, we have six lovely ladies who have a 6x3 enclosed area with a 16x13m open area. I'd love to improve the open area. It's currently dirt and weeds, with a non-fruiting olive tree in the centre.

I'd love it to be mostly grass, with some raised garden beds around the edge. We'd leave the olive tree for shade, and probably plant some hedging plants around the perimeter.

My question is - if I laid grass, would the chickens just destroy it ? If so, what would you recommend as ground cover ?

 

[CluckerFamily]

They would slowly destroy and eat the grass.

 

[obi wan henobi]

They would slowly destroy and eat the grass.

Thank you ... this is the answer I was expecting but dreading.

What would you recommend as an alternative ?

 

[CluckerFamily]

I have a covered run that is all dirt and sand. The flock also free ranges.
If price isn’t an issue, you could section off an area to plant grass seeds. When the grass grows you can open up that area and close off another to plant some more. It would keep them occupied.

 

[wf1992]

They would slowly destroy and eat the grass.

Could be a losing battle. But 6 chickens with almost 2000sqft? Wouldn't it depend on how healthy and well-established the grass is? I had 9 last spring, on significantly less area, and while they kept it well mowed, the grass wasn't destroyed.

I read somewhere about someone making a hardware cloth frame for stuff to grow thru so their ducks wouldn't munch it right down to the roots. I've been wondering if the same could be done for chickens, or if they'd still try to scratch and end up with broken nails.

 

[obi wan henobi]

We'd probably buy rolls of turf and lay them, keeping them fenced off for a couple of weeks while the roots settle in

 

[NatJ]

My question is - if I laid grass, would the chickens just destroy it ? If so, what would you recommend as ground cover ?

It partly depends on how much time the chickens spend in the area with the grass.
If the grass were inside the chicken pen, so they had constant access to it, they would kill the grass quickly.

If the grass is in the larger area, and the chickens are only there sometimes, then the grass might be fine. If you notice some of the grass doing poorly, and if you are able to fence off that part to let it recover, that could help.

Also, chickens like to scratch. Of course being scratched up is bad for grass. But if you have an area with mulch or a compost pile or even soft dirt, the chickens will do a lot of their scratching there (digging for bugs and worms and to have a dust bath), and they will do much less scratching in the grass.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

Chickens love to scratch, turf looking for bugs, dustbathe & eat greens, so I've only been able to successfully grow grass because I provide:
* bare soft dirt, covered overhead, dustbowl area for baths
* a hardware covered area growing their fav greens, chickweed, etc.
* other things to do such as hanging veggies & flock block to peck at & perches to get shade & rest

We get a lot of rain here, but must water the grass during July & Aug drought periods, but I have to water my garden then too, so no big deal.

So overall...it works for me, for 3 yrs now. Prior to that I tried sand, straw, natural mulch, and muddy, slippery pens were a nasty mess & some chickens got bumblefoot. I tried grass one muddy autumn, thinking it'll be temporary, just so I wouldn't slip in mud, and it actually grew & has stayed decent.

I may have to fill in a few bare spots & apply some lime once a year in winter when we have a few days of nasty weather & my flock will be indoors anyway, like now, we have wind, snow, ice & rain for the next 3 days, so I sprinkled some lime last night.

The number of chickens, as well as breed tendencies, will also play a part. I have 5 Wyandottes in a 10x10 pen, they're easy on grass. I have 2 RIRs with 5 Marans in a 7x15 pen, very rough on the grass. I have 7 EEs in a 7x15 pen, they're not as rough as Marans, but still hard on grass. 5 Buff Orpingtons in a 10x10, grass stays nice. 20 sq ft or more per bird seems to be best.

Also, spring & summer I let them out to free range as I garden. This past summer my neighbor was feeding foxes so no free ranging, but the grass in the pens survived. This year I'm going to either fence in the whole yard or at least fence a grazing area so they can get out more, despite the foxes. The more time they are confined to a particular grassy area, the more they'll tear it up.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

We'd probably buy rolls of turf and lay them, keeping them fenced off for a couple of weeks while the roots settle in

Just make sure that rolled turf or sod does not have that netting, some places use a green plastic netting and that can be very dangerous, if it is still there when planted, because the chickens can choke or get tangled up.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

But if you have an area with mulch or a compost pile or even soft dirt, the chickens will do a lot of their scratching there (digging for bugs and worms and to have a dust bath), and they will do much less scratching in the grass.

Yes, that is what worked for me