Grass in your runs

[mandyok]

Thanks I was building a new pen I was hoping I had enough space to keep grass in the pen.

 

[MinxFox]

I hope I am not too late on this...I don't know how sod will do, but this year I wanted grass so I got a 50 pound bag of ryegrass seed and spread it out over the pen. I didn't have to fertilize it since the peafowl have been in the pen for a few years so the ground is pretty fertile from all of their poo. I wasn't sure if they would pick the grass to death, but so far in a pen that is 40 feet by 50 feet with eight birds, I have lots of nice grass for them. I would talk to a local plant nursery or something to see what type of grass will do well for you in your area and in the shade if your pen is mostly in the shade. The birds pick at the grass but not too much. The only area they keep it eaten back is right near the door to the pen. Other than that you can hardly tell that they eat it. You might have to re-seed the grass every year or two. This is my first year planting grass so I will see how much I have to re-seed. The ryegrass will die here once the ground temp gets too hot so eventually this summer I will have to put out seeds for some other kind of grass.

 

[jpaynep31]

Have not tried these but here is a conversation about grass boxes

...and welcome to the world of chickens destroying grass! They'll eat ALMOST anything green. My enclosed run was initially grass/weeds. Within a month, it was dirt. You can not grow anything from seed in an area chickens frequent. They will eat the seeds before they even have a chance to sprout. I have since covered my dirt run with sand and it's much cleaner/easier to keep clean - and less muddy.

As for the grass... I discovered a way to grow fresh greens for my flock without them destroying the roots so it can re-grow. I made a box out of 2x4. I made a hinged lid for the box with 2x2 and stapled 1/2" x 1/2" hardware cloth to the underside. Something like this:


In the box I planted some winter rye grass seed that I sprouted in milk jugs in my garage. I chose winter rye grass 'cause it grows in the cold, and the grass will grow through the wire, unlike wide flat leaves like lettuces. Read about winter sowing here:

http://www.agardenforthehouse.com/2013/01/hows-your-winter-sowing-coming-along-2/
Hope this helps

Great idea! We are building our coop now, but we had to dig through rocky ground to burry the wire underneath to protect from the raccoons that we have been told a are a big threat in our area. I'm looking for ways to add gras to what is now, even before adding our chicks, a dirt pile in the run area.

 

[birdman55]

this is what it will look like and as long as you stand the 2x4 up and staple one on the sides and one in the middle it will be stable enough for any birds weight this piece is about forty feet long and four feet wide...and it is wheat so if you planted grass the same would happen it would get long enough and they wouldnt kill it....also i planted the wheat because the 50 chickens love to have fresh greens at first they kept it right at the wire and use something that is thicker then chicken wire...after a while the chicken wire will rust and break...and im sure you want something that will last so you dont have to replace it.. hope this helps..
i figured i would show my little babies....two whites that are about a month maybe month n a half old.... i believe they were 7-14 days old in the younger pics