i have an issue with my coop run.......

[HAPPYCHICKENLADY17]

it will be 2 years in february that i started my flock of chickens, the run was totally covered in grass, because we dedicated a partial part of our yard to the chicken area, now almost 2 yrs later, there is not one single weed or blade of grass left in that chicken area.....my chickens free range in that area, but what good is it if there is no grass or weeds growing....is there an alternative to the greens???

 

[woodmort]

I've never been able to restore vegetation to a run as long as the chickens have access to it. On the other hand, fencing them out, replanting and letting it regrow is only a temporary solution because as soon as they return it will be mowed down to the roots. The only solution is a bigger yard or less chickens. Sorry.

 

[Ghosty]

How big of an area do they range, how many chickens. You can build some grow boxes and cover with hardware cloth to grow greens. They will only be able to eat the top of the shoots. I'm sure someone will chime in with theirs.

 

[trumpeting_angel]

Oh, and instead of bare earth, you can make wonderful compost in that run. Dump all the fall leaves in, add aged wood chips, pine cones, weeds, the tailings from the garden (corn stalks, broccoli plants that have had all the broccoli harvested - they love those green cabbage worms! - and grass clippings if no pesticides were used. Plenty of greens, the hens turn the compost and add all the nitrogen you’ll ever need. Dump their bedding in there, too.

 

[Ridgerunner]

so i can grow kale or cabbage etc and that should be sufficient

You are in Florida, thanks for providing that information. You have all kinds of options on what to grow. I can't remember what these are called on this forum, maybe grazing beds? Basically you build a frame several inches high and cover it with wire mesh. The mesh needs to be small enough they cannot get their heads through and small enough that they cannot get their heads stuck. You don't want them pulling up the plants. Or make it so tall with larger openings they can't reach in far enough to pull the plants. There are some logistics to figure out.

Kale and cabbage are somewhat seasonal plus the leaves are so large they can't grow through a small mesh wire. If I were doing it I'd probably plant a hay mixture of seeds that grows in your area. Some grasses but also some broadleaf plants like alfalfa, lespedeza, or clover. Your county extension agent should be able to give you suggestions to which ones or which varieties of grass and other hay plants grow in your area.

 

[Henry&Friends]

my chickens free range in that area, but what good is it if there is no grass or weeds growing...

Are your chickens confined to their run, or are they allowed out of the area to go wherever? My chickens have a large run that they’ve torn all the grass up in, so it’s completely bare earth (mud this week) and even though they free range all day every day, there’s not a blade of grass within their run. We move our coop yearly, and it takes about a year for the grass in the area to grow back. The bare squares make for pretty good gardens though...

 

[rosemarythyme]

I give my chickens a little time each afternoon to wander on the rest of the lawn, plus I bring in some garden trimmings so they can have some greens every so often.

I used to have a garden bed inside the run for them, but needed the space for expansion, so now there's a bed just behind the run with carrots and peas. I have it fenced with chicken wire to keep them from decimating it but they're allowed to eat anything they can reach.

 

[RebelChief]

What about growing fodder for them?

 

[aart]

How big of an area do they range, how many chickens.

This would be good info to have^^^

but what good is it if there is no grass or weeds growing....is there an alternative to the greens???

I would be more concerned about the build up of poop and how nasty that can get when it's wet.

 

[aart]

I can't remember what these are called on this forum, maybe grazing beds?

Grazing frames?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/grazing-frames.73645/