Lawns and Chickens

[Aztecsue1]

I was wondering if laying sod, instead of putting in grass seed, would thwart the chickens any. The thought of seeding the whole lawn and having them scratch the seeds up & eat them doesn't sound like a good idea. Has anyone else put down sod and had chicken troubles? If so, what?

 

[N F C]

I haven't tried putting out sod. Sod can be a pretty expensive way to get a green yard, so maybe try just a small area to see what happens?

I just always figured if you want a real pretty yard, it was best if the chickens had their area fenced off from the pretty stuff.

Looking forward to hearing what others have to say!

 

[chickens really]

Mine are out daily on a grassed area plus under big spruce trees. The grass is fine and gets mowed as needed. I free range only a couple of hours a day though..

 

[Susan Dye]

I think it would be a very expensive experiment, with very disappointing results. The problem is if the chickens have full time access to the yard they are going to scratch up the grass, roots and all. I had dreams of my grass coming back up, but no such luck .
Just as NCF suggested, best to partition off an area and accept having a bare yard where they are. Some people let their chickens have free range of the whole yard for a few hours a day without total annihilation of the grass. I haven't worked up the nerve yet to try that. Afraid I'll have trouble getting them to go back into their own space. Then I have to worry about the dogs finding a loose hen, which would quickly become a dead hen.

 

[MissChick@dee]

If you have lots of money and you want to spoil your chickens with luscious green grass.....to tear up dig holes in and hopefully not get impacted from over eating grass (long grass can be a killer) then have at it. Chickens actually like dirt. Easy enough for me to say. I keep a “chickens” yard every thing is in raised boxes or flower beds are wired on the ground. The chickens are happy and I’m happy. They still dig it’s in their DNA. I live in the desert so my perspective is different I guess. Their nails stay nicely trimmed (naturally) and their beaks too. Plus all the grit they can handle.

 

[N F C]

View attachment 1528606 If you have lots of money and you want to spoil your chickens with luscious green grass.....to tear up dig holes in and hopefully not get impacted from over eating grass (long grass can be a killer) then have at it. Chickens actually like dirt. Easy enough for me to say. I keep a “chickens” yard every thing is in raised boxes or flower beds are wired on the ground. The chickens are happy and I’m happy. They still dig it’s in their DNA. I live in the desert so my perspective is different I guess. Their nails stay nicely trimmed (naturally) and their beaks too. Plus all the grit they can handle.

Cool looking people/chicken yard! I like the raised bed and use of wire to keep the birds out of your plants

 

[Susan Dye]

View attachment 1528606 If you have lots of money and you want to spoil your chickens with luscious green grass.....to tear up dig holes in and hopefully not get impacted from over eating grass (long grass can be a killer) then have at it. Chickens actually like dirt. Easy enough for me to say. I keep a “chickens” yard every thing is in raised boxes or flower beds are wired on the ground. The chickens are happy and I’m happy. They still dig it’s in their DNA. I live in the desert so my perspective is different I guess. Their nails stay nicely trimmed (naturally) and their beaks too. Plus all the grit they can handle.

Ha! At least yours looks natural, attractive even!
This was my chicken yard last year. The second picture is this year.

 

[Stepnout]

I guess I’m super lucky have over an acre of lawn. I’m using a portable pen I line up with a portable Eglu Cube and run. After 2 days I move everything to the next green patch. Every move they dig a new hole now I have little craters everywhere. It has been very dry this summer. When the rains return I’ll rake the holes and put pieces of sod in the craters before the snow comes. The sod will root before winter. My setup will become stationary for the long Canadian winter. I’ll cover everything in plastic to make like a hot house warming effect. Plenty of ventilation of course. I’m thinking of the deep litter method for the run. Fortunately where I live along the coast we have several warm thaws every winter to go with god knows how much snow. Many years we have bare ground on my open lawn for days. The birds will be able to free range while supervised.

 

[Riverwood Farm]

I guess mine are natural lawn maintenance chickens. We have over 30 acres but only a small portion could be considered 'lawn'. But the girls do most of their scratching and digging along the border of woods/grass keeping a 2 foot buffer of fresh dirt between them. I free range them from dawn to dusk and the little they scratch the grass doesn't seem to have had a negative affect, yet.

 

[rosemarythyme]

One concern with installing sod is make sure you know what's IN the sod. It's usually treated with chemicals and fertilizers, which isn't something you want the chickens rolling around in or eating.