Grass for the Chicken Run?

[KellyReed]

I don't know where you live, I live in south central Texas and winters here are not too bad, every now and then we have freezing temperatures but must of the time it is warm. I am new with chickens (started last April) I have a big run that used to have grass but now it is all dirt so I decided to plant some rye grass seeds outside the run for my girls to eat in the winter. I was successful and it is growing very nicely. You can look at it to the right of the picture. I don't free range my hens all the time because we have lots of hawks in this area, however when I can supervise them they go out and happily devour the grass

I would think that if my 9 hens were freeranging all the time, maybe the grass wouldn't have grown so much but since they free range 3 or 4 hours a day, there is plenty of time for the grass to grow all over.

That’s a very nice run! How many chickens do you have in it?

 

[KellyReed]

I have 3 Silkies and I live in Louisiana. It gets pretty warm so I chose to build my run in the shade but of course that means not much grass, more dirt. It rains a bit and I’m concerned about mud. Should I use Hay or straw in the run? They will be able to free range in the fenced yard several times a week and their coop is very weather resistant but I’m concerned about the lack of grass in the run making mud and we all know mud and Silkies don’t mix... any suggestions?

 

[TXchickmum]

Our run is underneath a large red oak tree. -great shade in the summer, and mud if there are periods of rain. We fill the run with coastal hay during cold/rain periods. The chickens love it, and it keeps them from getting muddy. We rake it out and compost it after the weather clears.

 

[paneubert]

That’s a very nice run! How many chickens do you have in it?

5 years since they posted that, and they haven't logged in since April of this year. Just a heads up in case you never see a reply from them.

 

[paintedChix]

View attachment 1588831 View attachment 1588832 I have 3 Silkies and I live in Louisiana. It gets pretty warm so I chose to build my run in the shade but of course that means not much grass, more dirt. It rains a bit and I’m concerned about mud. Should I use Hay or straw in the run? They will be able to free range in the fenced yard several times a week and their coop is very weather resistant but I’m concerned about the lack of grass in the run making mud and we all know mud and Silkies don’t mix... any suggestions?

DLM, DLM, DLM... shredded paper/cardboard (can fly around in wind, get scratched out by chix), pine straw, straw, hay, leaves, grass clippings, weeds, garden leftovers, kitchen scraps etc.

Does that run move? If meant to be permanent, you can place at least small red bricks under it and can then layer in enough DLM to keep the silkies out of the mud. If wanted deeper, can do cinder blocks under it. If crafty/creative, can even create your own bricks with a combo of Quikrete & shredded paper - light weight for moving, stretches the Quikrete for less $; can be colored &/or decorated. I haven't tried them yet for bricks around/under a chicken run, but should hold up well, I would think.