How large does run need to be to keep the hens from destroying the grass?

[crazydane]

My original run was 60' x 30' and my 10 hens destroyed all the grass in short order. It was nice and thick too.

I expanded the run to about 300' x 300' and to my surprise, they ate all that new grass too in short order.

So how large does the run need to be in order for the hens not to be able to keep up with eating all the grass?

1/4 acre per hen? 1 acre!!!?

Thanks

 

[Mutchi]

You can't stop them from eating grass. They love grass.

 

[LizzzyJo]

Haha - I think they just love to rip up and eat all grass. Mine free range daily and pretty much stay in a 1/2 acre range out of my 3. I have 8 hens and they've never done grass damage on the 1/2, so maybe that is the starting point? lol.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I don't know. I do know that my grass (and stuff) is gaining on my hens, filling in bare spots. You can see my flock in my sig below - 50+ birds, three goats. I have 1.75 acres of pasture inside about 4.5 acres of underbrushed area. Yet they destroyed your two acres (300' x 300')???

Do you feed them, or is the acreage their sole source of food???

 

[Boise-girls]

I have 6 banties on 1450 SF, about 3/4 in grass. They work over the areas that are close to compost and straw, but just nibble on the rest of the grass, don't really bother it. Who knows?!

 

[DobieLover]

How much sun does the area get? That is another factor.
Heavy shade plus chickens will go bare fast.
I have run as many as 30 birds (5 bantam, 25 LF) on about 1/3 acre and have to mow the pen as often as the lawn.

 

[Brooks_]

300 x 300 = 90000. ~ 2 acres

 

[crazydane]

Sorry, I was wrong about the size. I started out with 300' of fencing and doubled it to 600'. So more like 150 x 150, or about 1/2 acre.

The original 60 x 30 area has not recovered. Of course it doesn't help that I have been building a duck pond over the last few months on and off. Here are some pics of the original area in the foreground with the expanded area in the back.

Another corner:

So while there is "green" in some of the new area, it isn't what I would call grass. We have had extremely dry weather all spring and into the first part of summer.

I'm wondering if it would help if I mow the weeds or whatever it is that the hens are leaving alone?

Also, I was thinking of setting up some sprinklers to water the whole run on a regular basis. I'm blessed with a well that flows 10 gpm, even during drought periods.

@DobieLover that's what I want my run to look like!

 

[Outta Here]

That's only 0.021 acres. There are 43,560 sq ft in an acre.
I have run as many as 30 birds (5 bantam, 25 LF) on about 1/3 acre and have to mow the pen as often as the lawn.
View attachment 2750034

What a beautiful scene--love your chicken house!

 

[DobieLover]

@DobieLover that's what I want my run to look like!

It looks very shady there. Most of my pen gets lots of sun so the shady part between the woods and the run stays grassy because they use the entire area.