Do I need to sow grass in my pen?

[Ckn woman]

I moved my first flock of 3 wks old to their pen. It has some grass in it but it does have a lot of bald spots. Now my question is-- Do i need to sow some grass in there or take my hubbys advice and leave it as is?

 

[speckledhen]

If you do that, they will eat the seed and it may have a coating on it that wouldn't be good for them. Grass lasts about 10 minutes in a chicken pen, trust me. If you can keep them off it for a month, maybe they'll have some to eat when you turn them out in it.

 

[Chickenmaven]

If you throw down seed, they will eat it. If you block off an area & grow some beautiful, perfect lawn - they will eat it. When mine were 6 week old "Babies", they devoured their lushly green run within days. It was trashed, scratched down to dirt within a couple of weeks.
Hubby's right: Don't bother.

 

[Ckn woman]

Thanks ... But I will not tell my hubby he was right on this one I will just drop the subject! Haha!!!!

 

[CTChickenMom]

No, I wouldn't seed it either but if you want treats for your chooks, check this out from Sandhill Preservation. They are treats especially for chickens. I'm going to order both batches! I'll be ordering all of my veggie seeds from them too, no hybrids so I can collect seeds.

I'm going to plant the seeds in half barrels and move them in as treats when they are ready for eating.

 

[Wynette]

I buy wheat seeds from my local grain elevator and sew them in a flat plastic container...I use an underbed sweater box, but you can use a concrete mixing container (about $5 at home depot and a good size). Put some dirt in, water it down, scatter seeds liberally (when I do it, you can hardly see any dirt underneath), and put it in a warm place. Keep it moist. If you want them to sproud quicker, put plastic wrap over the top. When the seeds begin to sprout, lay a section of hardware cloth over the top, and bend under the edges so no sharp edges are showing. The grass will grow through the hardware cloth, and when it gets tall enough (I wait until it's about a foot high), you can put it in the run for your chickens to eat. THey'll eat down to the cloth, and they won't be able to pull out the seeds. It won't last long, but it's an awesome treat for them. You can just pull out the container when they've eaten it all and leave it right outside the run in the sunshine to grow back up again.

ETA: I ordered the spring mix from Sandhill just last week, and that's what I'll be using in my rotation run this summer!