Grass for chicken run? What do you think?

[CoopedupinTN]

Hi All,
My husband is in the middle of building a chicken coop. My question is about the run floor. We have the coop situated in an area where the run is on grass. We don't care about the grass in that area getting ruined but it seems to me that this will be really hard to clean and may attract lots of bugs and flys.. Do y'all have grass in the run and how do you maintain the area?
Thanks for the help!

 

[gale65]

We HAD grass in the run. After a couple of months there was nothing but dirt. I don't worry about cleaning outside. The poop seems to dry up and disappear into the dirt. For greens I either pick grass for them or we buy them lettuce that's been discounted. We also put a wire and wood contraption in the run that should hopefully allow grass to grow through and be eaten but not killed. So far only weeds are growing in it so I might have to move it when the weather is warm enough for actual grass to germinate.

 

[kellysmall87]

I have two runs. One on a patch of grass thats scrubland and one on the yard on slabs. The slab one is easier to clean - a bucket of soapy water and it's sorted. My chickens are free range all day anyway, and poo on the lawn. The poo does tend to soak into the dirt after a day or two. It's just a matter of what you want to do.

 

[CoopedupinTN]

Thanks so much. That helps a lot.

 

[gale65]

Shouldn't this have been moved to the coop and run section rather than the managing your flock section? :/