Help. Flies and NO grass

[Tdoten]

We have 5 backyard chickens in south Texas. They have an eglu coop & run (with extensions for adequate space). As first time chicken owners were coming across 2 problems that we haven’t been able to google ourselves out of and could use some help. We let them free range the yard daily (usually a few hours- a little longer now being home for social distancing)
1) flies. It’s becoming warm and the combo of lots of chicken poop has turned our back yard into fly central. I know that eliminating all flies is unreasonable but some days there’s so many you hear them swarming like bees. It gets pretty out of control. Are there some ways to help control the amount. It makes being in our own yard pretty uncomfortable. We have tried sprinkling first Saturday lime in the coop and yard with very limited or almost unnoticeable success.
2) dead grass. I don’t expect a better home & gardens status lawn but our ladies have effectively destroyed about 1/2 of our yard down to dirt. (Which probably isn’t helping the fly situation) were Ok with a few patches not looking amazing but 1/2 our yard is now a dirt pit. Have any of you successfully grown back areas of your yard with backyard chickens? I’ve heard of sectioning areas off to let it grow back but will it just get eaten up again? Thanks for you insight!!

 

[aart]

I’ve heard of sectioning areas off to let it grow back but will it just get eaten up again?

Probably...unless you limit their ranging time.

The advantage of keeping birds confined in a large run is you can put bedding down to break down the poops......and they don't destroy your yard.

 

[Tdoten]

Probably...unless you limit their ranging time.

The advantage of keeping birds confined in a large run is you can put bedding down to break down the poops......and they don't destroy your yard.

thank you for the advice. How much time are we talking by “limited time” to free range? I would love to do a space this large for them. However we live in the city with a relatively small backyard space. Going extra large like this would take up a giant section of our yard... then again they're tearing up the whole thing right now maybe going bigger would eat up a lot of our yard but the remaining space might be able to breathe and be salvaged

 

[aart]

How much time are we talking by “limited time” to free range?

Can vary depending on number of birds and type of vegetation growing.
Time will tell.

then again they're tearing up the whole thing right now maybe going bigger would eat up a lot of our yard but the remaining space might be able to breathe and be salvaged

Exactly!

 

[Tdoten]

Can vary depending on number of birds and type of vegetation growing.
Time will tell.

Exactly!

How much space/bird do you suggest for a “larger” run like this?

 

[aart]

How much space/bird do you suggest for a “larger” run like this?

20 sqft per bird.
...and
My runs have semi-deep litter(cold composting), never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials on occasion, add larger wood chippings as needed. Aged ramial wood chippings are best IMO.

 

[Percheron chick]

For 5 hens an 8x8 run is more than adequate but they need stuff to do. A mini compost pile, bags of grass and leaves... Gotta be the meanie and lock them up. You can let them out for 30 minutes before bedtime but you've got to be strict.
Your yard might take upwards of a year to recover.

 

[rosemarythyme]

For the flies, I just put out traps for them. Can't get rid of all of them but it's amazing how many do end up in traps.

I’ve heard of sectioning areas off to let it grow back but will it just get eaten up again?

Yup. Rotating pastures does work, but it requires more space than you probably have as it does take a while for the grass/forage to regrow.

I actually did manage to keep some grass growing in half my run for about 2 years because my run was split, so I could shut a gate to keep them out of one side to let it recover a bit before opening up access again.