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

[Crazy Maizie]

That's good to know about feeding the duck feed to the chickens, too! I was wondering, but afraid, because I wasn't sure if the chickens could handle the extra niacin. I've been feeding the chickens the Free Range formula, and they love that, but it's more expensive than the duck feed... not by much, but over a short period, it adds up to an extra bag of feed between the two. Would also be space saving, because I wouldn't have to keep separate areas for the two types of feed.

The niacin won't hurt the chickens. Its actually beneficial. I feed an all flock to my ducks and chickens. I added nutritional yeast to the ducks feed while growing and the chickens always get a sprinkling as well.

 

[Vicker]

I think the shade and the soil type are the big factors there. Hard for grass to grow and easy for chickens to scratch it up. I've got about 16 chickens in a very large run. The shaded part and the area right in front of the coop are bare now. I have to mow the rest of the space. I move the coop and run with the seasons, so the grass grows back.

 

[Cickenlover]

We gave up and mulched our run with hard wood mulch. They seem to really enjoy burrowing down on hot days and also it has been easy to keep clean.

 

[PrimroseMom1]

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

I read this with a good chuckle. Mine have a quite large area that became barren pretty easily. Now I just let it be bare and feed them grass clippings and spinach, kale, and such.

 

[Janj76]

My chickens haven’t eaten all of my grass in the area they are in but it could be the type of grass. When I cut my backyard that had clover in it I dump the clippings into my chicken yard. They love it! You might try that.

 

[Cluckminster Fuller]

My pen is so shady that grasses don't grow there well, and the chickens are contained in the area because of raptors. Certain times of year when it is rainier, I get some grass. But when I mow and weed, I take loads of grass and put it in the pen. They eat some and the rest becomes part of the deep litter. I also give them garden and herb scraps. Water and sun are both needed for having good grass, I think.

 

[Mj33130]

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

I have 6 hens in my backyard probably 60 x 30 and I don't have any grass or plants they like. They leave the bad ones alone though.

 

[Sheloveschix]

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

That's why mine free range during the day on our 3 acres

 

[CKfarm22]

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

Sorry but any grass they find, they will eat. It doesn’t matter what size your run is, they will eat the grass.

 

[NatJ]

Sorry but any grass they find, they will eat. It doesn’t matter what size your run is, they will eat the grass.

They do eat grass, but it is sometimes possible to have so much grass that it grows faster than the chickens can eat it. (That can require a lot of grass for not many chickens.)