First time outside, and dirty chickens?

[graciesmum]

My chicken garden is 44ft by 22ft, I have 5 girls, and there is no way I can grow anything up there lol

 

[mrs1885]

Get them some sand to bathe in. It's how they keep clean crazy as it sounds.

I heard one time that to keep any vegetation growing that you would need about 100 sq ft per bird. I was wondering if my backyard would survive till spring got here. Looks like Normandy after D-day.

I had no clue that's what they were doing in the dirt! They've been scratching and digging and rolling like little crazy chickens! They've got some places they started, but have been taking full advantage of the areas the tortoises started. They're such huge pits that all 11 can fit in one, so they're pretty happy at the moment. Geez. Well, I guess I need to get these foster dogs out of here so I can open up the entire back yard to them then! I'd hate to lose the grass that's finally starting to grow back!

 

[RonC]

Where the grass was thick in my yard they didn't do too much damage. Any shady areas where the grass wasn't real thick there are endless small craters. Hopefully they just loosened the soil and fertilized those spots and the grass will thrive.