Do your chickens eat a lot of grass when they free range?

[ace6175]

I've been letting my 8 week olds free range (in a large fenced area) for the last week. They seem really happy, run out of the coop in the morning. We have lots of shade, and grass (mostly clover, looks like). I think they have been eating a lot of grass, because their poop is very dark green, almost black. Before it was usually brown. They seem very healthy, though.
Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[rottdog]

my 5 RIR"s love it when i hand pick them some grass and sit and feed it to them. other times i just tuc it under the end of a concret block so they can pull it lose....they do have a certain type they like better then other.. i think its called "sweet grass", my rotty's eat it too....

 

[danielbrown]

They eat a lot grass. They also spend a lot of time under the bushes scratching and eating bugs too. They also eat mice, lizards, and anything else that don't eat them first.

 

[gocrow77]

They actually eat alot more clover and other broad leaved ground cover type greens than grass - although the younger and more tender the grass is the more likely they are to eat it. They don't go for the long, tall, or woody stuff.

 

[Mahonri]

Mine love grass.

 

[caralouise1974]

Mine adore clover and young tender grass shoots - it's obvious which days they've been out for longer free ranging time as their poop is very green! 'Run' days tend to result in the more classic earthy brown poops. Greenery will increase the good stuff in their eggs and make the yolks look brighter, so it can only be a good thing to let them eat as much of this stuff as they like. (The only exception is not to let them eat very long, old woody grasses, as these are the No 1 culprits for crop impactions.)

Clover apparently has very beneficial affects on their vitality - isn't there an article that's been posted recently about that subject?

 

[ilovemychickenstoo]

Mine eat alot of grass, bugs etc....but recently found out that they LOVE my morning glories. Yikes.

 

[BigPeep]

I got in 18 Australorps a month ago which were already a couple of months old. Five of them were about 4 mos old. I constructed a chicken tractor and put the older ones in, which I placed in the walking rows between my vegetable plantings. I have a 30 member organic CSA for vegetables and am adding eggs once I have enough chickens of the appropriate age.

The primary reason I got the chickens, however, is weeding. I also have Tennessee Fainting goats for the same reason.

The chickens were initially a bit confused and it took them a week to eat down the grass in the tractor, so I discontinued using a feeding tray and now just throw the feed directly on the ground, along with some grit. They are doing better with it and I am able to move the tractor in about four days.

Meanwhile, the grass in the regular coop run is totally gone and I have put down pine wood chips. There is also a goose in there which has helped a lot with the grass removal. It used to be an unused dog kennel where I had to go in with a weed wacker. Now I'll never wack in there again!

Once they have finished weeding the walking path, I will still have to over it with a small rototiller as they don't dig up the roots so everything will just come back. The loosend dirt can then be thrown onto the beds with the plants to fertilize. What a system!

 

[Davaroo]

Ive noticed they tend to pick at grass. It appears they eat it, but it is more llike just testing it. When it is very green and succulent they like it more. As the season changes and it gets hard and tough, they look elsewhere.

 

[thebritt]

They most definately eat grass, and lots of it!