Is long grass a problem?

[BY Bob]

My Golden Comets are funny, they like the seeds on long grass, but they won't walk through tall grass. They walk along the edge where I mowed or reach though their pen to snap up the seeds on the tall grass.View attachment 1441226. GC

Stuff like this always amazes me. Do they not like having their bellies rubbed? Are they afraid of something that might be hidden in there? Why are they afraid of long grass? What goes on in those minds, lol.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Mine don't like super long grass either. Same with the dogs. Maybe the issue is they can't see through it so it makes them nervous?

 

[Coop de Grass]

I 've been reading online about the potential problems that can occur after a chicken eats long grass - apparently they can get a crop impaction

Obviously, I can mow my own lawn to control it's length. But my chickens are often allowed to free range nearby on utility land and parkland nearby - I can't really control the length of this grass! How much of a problem is it? Are you just unlucky if they get a crop impaction or is it almost certain to happen? It's hasn't happened so far in the 6 months I've had them. I guess I could keep them locked up in their run, but they love free ranging so much! They call out to me when they hear me get home from work, demanding to be let out! Appreciate anyone's experiences with this.

I had chickens for 2 years and never had a problem with long grass though my original flock didn't have access to too much of it since they were in a mowed yard. This year I have a new flock and wasn't going to free range them per township restrictions. I had to put down several bales of straw in my run to combat the spring rain which created an enormous muddy problem. I had no idea what a bad decision that would turn out to be. I lost two hens to sour/impacted crop before I knew what it was. It wasn't the fresh long grass, but the long dried grasses that caused the problem.

I had used straw in the coop without problems. I didn't know that in the run, they would be scratching through the straw and consuming it together with whatever else they ate.

I am now worried that if I do let them out, the overgrown weeds at the borders of my lawn will cause problems.

Am I just being paranoid?

 

[Coop de Grass]

One point I haven't seen mentioned is that long grass still attached to the ground is usually not a problem, as it was pointed out that the chickens will rip off small bits to eat more often than eating the whole blade of grass. On the other hand, some people will throw trimmings into the chicken run, and that's where long grass becomes a problem, IMO. My RIRs forage on VERY long grass and other plants near a wetland...no problems. Then, I threw some trimmings into the run. Didn't think about how they wouldn't be able to rip bits off unless the chicken was standing on the other end of the grass...to provide the tension needed to tear the leaves. The point: within a week of throwing in the trimmings, I had a sick hen with an impacted crop. She died. Just my two cents re: what I've noticed, for what it's worth.

I'm so sorry to hear about your hen dying. And I'm grateful for your observation about long grass attached to the ground... the hens that I lost had straw in their crops. The droppings were full of fibre, which might have been a clue if I had been looking for it. I have raked out the straw that was in my run, though it is an ongoing process. I am now down to pieces of 4" and less.

Thanks to you, I won't worry about the girls snacking on the longish weeds growing along the sides of my garden. Thank you!