flagging the garden with little grass

[chickchicks]

at the moment i have a garden and a coop with 4 hens, 1 roo
they have a 6*4 shed and a 5*4 run
the garden is mostly grass with a small patio area flagged and dirt around the edges for flowers.

my mum wants to change to get rid of the grass so its flagged compleatly but keep the edge clear for flowers.

she says the chickens willbe fine inthe dirt areas withoutthegrass.

the main reason this isgoingto be doneis because the chickens have destroyed the grass area and over winter it has become a boggy mess no matter what we do to stop it.


wmy question is willthe chickens be happy?

or should i try to keep anarea with grass inevenif i have to replace it frequently ?

 

[galanie]

The chickens will likely destroy any living plant they can reach, grass included. But the grass is healthy for them and I'd try to keep at least some for them to eat and dig in.

 

[Smiles-N-Sunshine]

Chickens are primarily grain and seed eaters. Ours are very content on our sandy, grass-free desert soil, scratching under the rabbit cages for bits of alfalfa hay. We give them kitchen scraps, including greens, which has more nutritional value than grass.

I recommend straw to keep your run from getting muddy. A few handfuls of straw covers a good-sized area, and a bale of straw is cheap (on this side of the pond, anyway).

 

[SteveBaz]

Planter work great so get large planters like window planters. Some are 12" X 10" X 4' long and put screen over the top of them so they can't get to the dirt and when the grass grows through they get to peck at the grass, spice, or plants you choose. The trick is to shape the screen over the 4 or 5 planters so the 4 sides are covered well. I have 5 grass planters and 5 we have in a grow house and we rotate them. In the summer we plant spices like parsley, basil, cilantro and lemon grass too to munch on. Good luck

 

[chickchicks]

thank you for the replyies ,

i do put a little straw inteh run and they seem to love it , i was not usre if i was doing theright thingso thankyou onthat tip.


what is alfalfa and what is cilantro ?


they love parsly and they love tomarto plants and lettuce ( i work this out the hard way

)

i will set everything in motion then so when the flaggin is done they have the plant pots and dirt the chickens love

 

[urban escapee]

thank you for the replyies ,

i do put a little straw inteh run and they seem to love it , i was not usre if i was doing theright thingso thankyou onthat tip.


what is alfalfa and what is cilantro ?


they love parsly and they love tomarto plants and lettuce ( i work this out the hard way

)

i will set everything in motion then so when the flaggin is done they have the plant pots and dirt the chickens love

Cilantro is the leaves from a Corriander plant

 

[Smiles-N-Sunshine]

And alfalfa is "Lucerne"

(I love how we're one people, separated by a common language!)

 

[chickchicks]

thank you for the replies i still have no idea on the alfalfa so google is gonna have to help ! if its not something easily used in the garden then thats why i have no idea- low memory


(I love how we're one people, separated by a common language!)

love it !!