Do you mow?

[Niss]

I am still pretty new to all this. I expected my birds would have turned the run to bare earth by now, however they have not, excluding the fifth closest to the coop door. Part of the run has tall weeds--golden rod and such. Would the chickens be happier if I mow it ocasionally? Thanks!

 

[buckaroo's wife]

I do, only to keep the "snake hiding" places at bay!

 

[Tripp16]

I have no problem with grass growing in my run because they overturn it all the time. haha If a lucky sprig shoots up its gone by the next day.....

I do however mow around my coop and run and mow underneath the coop. For the same reason to keep snakes away!

Good luck!

 

[bryan99705]

Leave it, chicks love to play hide-n-go-peep and marco polo

 

[AlienChick]

I thought my chickens would "mow" my grass for me, but . . . oh, well.

I do mow the grass and the chickens love to dig around in the freshly cut grass to not only eat the grass clippings but the new bugs that have now emerged much to their delight.

And I also leave some tall clumps of grass/weeds around the edges for them to play in.

 

[Niss]

Quote:
That's what I thought!

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Yes, if they haven't yet turned it into bare dirt you should mow it when it gets tall and rank.

The birds are out there every day eating the plants they like while ignoring the ones they don't. This is automatically selecting in favor of the disliked plants to grow and grow as the desirable plants are eaten down. By mowing you are leveling the playing field so to speak to give the desirable plants more of a chance to continue growing while cutting back on the ones they don't like. At the same time the birds much prefer young, tender grass to old, coarse, tough grass so by mowing you eliminate the tough stuff and encourage the growth of new, tender grass.

 

[silkeysandra]

our girls get free range in our backyard and they seem to like the mowed grass to eat plus it seems it helps them see the bugs better. If your run is small, some clippers or battery weed eater will take care of the places needing a trim. I weedeat the tall stuff or pull them up about once every two weeks, but once a week in the seed making days. That kills the weeds and lets the good stuff have more room and nutrients. It's as organic a solution as we have since we don't use any pesticides or herbicides.