Grass nearly all gone, now what?

[Carolminifarm]

I have had 4 girls since April 2021. I love them dearly. They have a 9'x24' attached run (which has mulch flooring) but spend at least half the day in my suburban backyard. I used to have lush grass but now it's nearly destroyed from their pecking/eating and scratching! I'd love to be able to grow more grass/ground cover so they can have that entertainment and they just love to eat it too (I also grow fodder for them in addition to layer feed). My grass area is only about 12'x25'.

Any suggestions?

Do I maybe fence off half to regrow grass then give them that half and regrow the other? Or is it a losing cause.
View attachment 3015264

Leave in pen while grass recovers. Think of all the bugs you don't have now. Lol

 

[bothfeetnumb]

I bought two strips of turf from Home Depot and threw them out on top of the old lawn. I didn’t do any prep but thought I’d just watch how it goes. How long it takes the 4 of them to tear it up (if they do). I will gauge for my next decision on those results.

 

[gtaus]

Yeah I had gotten the largest run I could thinking I would keep them in there full time. But it didn’t work out that way because they love running around the yard and it makes them so happy…Yes they are spoiled!
They are out in the full backyard about 4-5 hours Mon - Fri. Then pretty much all day on the weekend.

I can't let my chickens free range due to heavy aerial predation. My chickens are confined to their bird netting covered chicken run. But I bring the free range to the birds in the run. I dump all my grass clippings in the run along with just about anything else organic like weeds from the garden, leaves, etc... They seem to be happy with that compromise. It keeps them safe. In your case, at least you would be able to let your backyard grass grow again so you also could enjoy it. Cutting the grass and saving the clippings for the birds works for me. Same for leaves. My chickens love to play in the leaves I dump in the run in the fall. Chickens don't need to free range to be happy and have a good life.

In any case, once your grass is reestablished, maybe you could cut back your chickens' free ranging time to maybe just an hour or so before you put them to bed for the night. You should be able to find a balance where the lawn and the chickens can work out. You have a nice backyard, it's too bad that it's all dirt right now. But that can be fixed. Hope you work it out.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I bought two strips of turf from Home Depot and threw them out on top of the old lawn. I didn’t do any prep but thought I’d just watch how it goes. How long it takes the 4 of them to tear it up (if they do). I will gauge for my next decision on those results.

Be really careful with sod. It's usually heavily treated with fertilizers and some sods come on a mesh backing, which can injure or kill a chicken: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/sod.1428923/

 

[raingarden]

I have a ramshackled little net pen divided into two sections about 60 square feet each.. I put a hen and four chicks in one side yesterday. It had a small stands of pearl millet, proso millet and buckwheat.

Here's what it looked like 24 hours later.

They're starting to excavate now so it will all be gone by tomorrow.

 

[My Three Chicks]

I can't let my chickens free range due to heavy aerial predation. My chickens are confined to their bird netting covered chicken run. But I bring the free range to the birds in the run. I dump all my grass clippings in the run along with just about anything else organic like weeds from the garden, leaves, etc... They seem to be happy with that compromise. It keeps them safe. In your case, at least you would be able to let your backyard grass grow again so you also could enjoy it. Cutting the grass and saving the clippings for the birds works for me. Same for leaves. My chickens love to play in the leaves I dump in the run in the fall. Chickens don't need to free range to be happy and have a good life.

In any case, once your grass is reestablished, maybe you could cut back your chickens' free ranging time to maybe just an hour or so before you put them to bed for the night. You should be able to find a balance where the lawn and the chickens can work out. You have a nice backyard, it's too bad that it's all dirt right now. But that can be fixed. Hope you work it out.

Thanks for the input. Yeah I'm new to chickens. This flock of 4 are my first and they hatched last April. So I'm figuring out how to balance everything for the first time. I like your idea though!

 

[My Three Chicks]

I have a ramshackled little net pen divided into two sections about 60 square feet each.. I put a hen and four chicks in one side yesterday. It had a small stands of pearl millet, proso millet and buckwheat.

View attachment 3023309


Here's what it looked like 24 hours later.

View attachment 3023316

They're starting to excavate now so it will all be gone by tomorrow.

First their pen looks like a fun set up for them! Who knew they were little garden monsters!

 

[Auntiejessi3]

I have had 4 girls since April 2021. I love them dearly. They have a 9'x24' attached run (which has mulch flooring) but spend at least half the day in my suburban backyard. I used to have lush grass but now it's nearly destroyed from their pecking/eating and scratching! I'd love to be able to grow more grass/ground cover so they can have that entertainment and they just love to eat it too (I also grow fodder for them in addition to layer feed). My grass area is only about 12'x25'.

Any suggestions?

Do I maybe fence off half to regrow grass then give them that half and regrow the other? Or is it a losing cause.
View attachment 3015264

My husband said he didn't want the chickens tearing up our backyard anymore so he built them a chicken yard next to their run. It is 570sqft, I planted a couple trees(still have a lot of growing to do) and I'll be adding a few more things. They have access to it after I get home from work and on the weekends. If it gets sad looking I'll keep them out, reseed, and resume after it fills back in.

 

[My Three Chicks]

My husband said he didn't want the chickens tearing up our backyard anymore so he built them a chicken yard next to their run. It is 570sqft, I planted a coyote trees(still have a lot of growing to do) and I'll be adding a few more things. They have access to it after I get home from work and on the weekends. If it gets sad looking I'll keep them out, reseed, and resume after it fills back in.

Wow thats terrific. Lucky birds. The run looks great! (And your pup is adorable too

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Wow thats terrific. Lukey birds. The run looks great! (And your pup is adorable too

Thank you She thinks she's a chicken, will hang out with them all day