Ok to add this grass clipping to chicken run?

[My Three Chicks]

I have a covered chicken run that's got a floor of woodchips over dirt. Now that it's spring we just mowed our front lawn. The girls don't have access to grass in our suburban backyard they free-range in. I was going to put a bucket of grass clippings in their run for them to scratch around and eat or whatever they want! But I'm reading posts and getting mixed messages about if it's a Do or Don't. The grass clippings seem to all be under 2". See pic.

And if it is acceptable, should I just dump all the grass clippings in there or limit how much I put in there? Wondering if it's a good ground layer for the run itself?

 

[K0k0shka]

2" is fine, dump it in - they'll love it! It's only a problem if it's very long strands that can cause an impaction in the crop. But short is fine. Dump it in a pile and they'll spread it around for you. It will keep them entertained doing so, and they'll have a nice green snack. Then it will add to the organic matter of your run litter, which is a bonus. I have a suburban backyard, too, which gets mowed regularly so the clippings are about that length, too, and I dump each mowing into the chicken run. The chickens love it!

 

[AidKD]

I put grass clippings in mine all the time and the chickens love it!

 

[Shadrach]

I have a covered chicken run that's got a floor of woodchips over dirt. Now that it's spring we just mowed our front lawn. The girls don't have access to grass in our suburban backyard they free-range in. I was going to put a bucket of grass clippings in their run for them to scratch around and eat or whatever they want! But I'm reading posts and getting mixed messages about if it's a Do or Don't. The grass clippings seem to all be under 2". See pic.

And if it is acceptable, should I just dump all the grass clippings in there or limit how much I put in there? Wondering if it's a good ground layer for the run itself?

I'm going to say don't, or at least don't expect them to gain much in nutrition from the cut grass and consider the possiblity of crop problems if you do.
Chickens love a bit of grass but ime once it is cut it dries out quickly and in my experience there seems to be a marked preference for tender grass with a higher moisture content.
They'll love kicking it about but I think you'll find they'll consume very little of it.
I suggest you carry out an experiment before you dump large volumes in the chickens run.
Put a small quanitiy in the run, say a quarter of a cup full and see what happens to it. I think you'll find a lot of initial enthusiasm as they scratch it around but most of it will still be there a few days later.
Then sacrifice a small area of you lawn where the grass is growing and moist and note the difference.

I think you'll find that the chickens will happily eat the sacrificed growing patch, picking the most tender shoot and dig to find the bugs that live in the ground and at the base of the grass.

 

[Tired old Rooster]

As Shadrach pointed out, cut grass is fun to scratch though, no good for eating. Better to figure out a plan, where they can access a small patch of the live stuff.

 

[K0k0shka]

Even if they don't eat a lot of it, it still makes excellent run bedding. So it's worth throwing it in there even for that purpose alone. Especially if you are in the suburbs and don't have a lot of other options for grass clippings. Better use them for run bedding than throw them out to be hauled away by the town. Good free bedding - who doesn't like that?

 

[My Three Chicks]

Hi all. Thanks for the responses! I did dump the bucket in there yesterday and kept an eye on them. They ate quite a bit! This morning I checked their crops (as I do every morning) and everyone was good! Today the clippings have already dried out so they are not interested in eating. But I like it as run bedding/flooring to add a little organic material to help maybe keep dust down?

Yeah not giving it to them for nutrition. I free feed them layer feed. They do get some greens in the yard (though not grass since there isn't any back here) and they get tons of worms! And every couple of weeks I sprout seeds/fodder for them.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

I finally got around to mowing a tiny patch of grass today that I'd planted last fall after putting a nice deep layer of chicken run compost down. The grass is gorgeous and thick, compared to the rest of my yard (I figure over the next decade, I'll get it all replanted).

The grass clippings went into the chicken run, to be consumed or mixed back into the compost. As I paused to catch my breathe, I pondered how cool this little "circle of life" for the nutrients was.

 

[Devyn Nagy]

They'll love it. Just for digging in. Maybe throw some scratch in with it.

 

[GCrumb]

I throw a lot of weeds in the chicken run. They eat the tender tips off the ones they think are good and scratch the rest about and work it into the ground of the run.