Questions about the chicken run

[Beccazon]

I give my girls a head of romaine lettuce about once a week, and short clippings from the lawn, in small amounts, ( too long and it can cause impactions in the crop) and small amount of fresh fruit and veggies, cut into pieces they can manage. A lot of free ranging is eating bugs too, they'll get a few in their run naturally, but I give mine a hand full of dried mealworms or soldier fly larva from the feed store, or for a rare treat, some live crickets from the pet store. Variety is the key, IMO.

Good point! I toss mealworms in as a treat as well.

 

[rosemarythyme]

The sod is a great idea!

Do NOT use commercial sod if you don't know what's in it. Often it is heavily treated in fertilizer, herbicides, etc. If you sprout or grow your own fodder that should be safe to use.

Since my chicken run is barren of greenery now I let them out on the grass once a day, and also bring in a little leftover greens and veggies for them since my garden is now overflowing.

 

[Beccazon]

Do NOT use commercial sod if you don't know what's in it. Often it is heavily treated in fertilizer, herbicides, etc. If you sprout or grow your own fodder that should be safe to use.

Since my chicken run is barren of greenery now I let them out on the grass once a day, and also bring in a little leftover greens and veggies for them since my garden is now overflowing.

You are correct and I should have known to include that point. The farm this gal uses is organic and I have otherwise never dealt with sod so I guess I didn't consider commercial chemicalsthank you for the correction!!

 

[aart]

Egg production has slowed, I don’t think they are eating or drinking as much except when I give them fresh food. Thanks in advance for any insight.

How do you know they are not eating and drinking? Do you keep an eye on the level of the feed and water daily?
What all and how exactly are you feeding?

But do you think the lack of green stuff is contributing to the decreased eggs and lack of eating and drinking?

No, my birds are confined with very little greenery available and they eat and drink and make eggs just fine.

Three two year olds and the other is one.

So 24-30 months old and 12-18 months old?
They are probably ramping down production and getting ready to molt, if you are in the northern hemisphere.
So I'll say now...Welcome to BYC! @meridy
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, (laptop version shown), then it's always there!

Greenery options for confined birds:
Fodder:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/search/69822948/?q=fodder&t=post&o=date&c[title_only]=1

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

https://www.backyardchickens.com/search/69823079/?q=grazing+frames&t=post&o=date&c[title_only]=1

 

[Matilda Belle]

I would recommend building grazing boxes. My chickens love them.

https://thefrugalchicken.com/build-a-grazing-box-for-healthier-backyard-chickens/

 

[ronkonkoma]

I took someone’s old side of their run that they were going to throw away and put it on their patch of grass in their run. That way they can eat it but not dig the roots out so it will always grow.

 

[8CityChicks]

I have four hens that have a very large run attached to their coop. It gets plenty of shade from surrounding trees. In the last year they have eaten every green thing in there but have lots of leaf piles to scratch around in. Do they need green leafy things too? They used to roam the yard but destroyed flower beds and I was tired of scrapping droppings off of every hard surface. Egg production has slowed, I don’t think they are eating or drinking as much except when I give them fresh food. Thanks in advance for any insight.

 

[8CityChicks]

I have four hens that have a very large run attached to their coop. It gets plenty of shade from surrounding trees. In the last year they have eaten every green thing in there but have lots of leaf piles to scratch around in. Do they need green leafy things too? They used to roam the yard but destroyed flower beds and I was tired of scrapping droppings off of every hard surface. Egg production has slowed, I don’t think they are eating or drinking as much except when I give them fresh food. Thanks in advance for any insight.

I have the same problem of 9 birds in a large shaded run, but am able to free-range them an hour or two a day without damage to the lawn (they are fantastic at keeping down chinch bugs which have destroyed my front lawn since nothing kills them anymore). They do scatter pine straw in beds and will eat hostas & other green plants so I screen those off with plastic fencing, fence off the garden in the same way, and watch them enjoy their FR time. I keep a rake handy for raking back the straw (good cardio exercise if no one has tried it - takes about 10 minutes a day) and a hose & shovel handy to clean hard surfaces as needed. My wife doesn't like it a lot, but usually stays indoors anyway in our heat so I can get away with it as long as I keep things neat & clean.The neighbors have never complained and frequently ask how the chickens are doing. This is a good way to interact with the birds, who stay in areas not far from my chair hoping for a handout. Its amazing how well they adjust to a schedule - them & the wild birds which I feed at about the same time each day. Even the cats hang around for some of the snacks, so I'm never alone. At precisely the same time each day they make their way back to their house & I lock them safely away from predators. Forgot to mention egg production has been very good even on 95+ degree days, and if anything, eating & drinking has increased.

 

[Karen Glatz]

I have grape vines (and lots of them) so when the girls make the soil bare, I break off a couple of lengths of vines and tie them to the fence every day. The girls love that and quickly pick them down to stems.

I've also used the 18" shoots that I've thinned out of the sunflower bed and when the mulberry trees get a little bigger I'll use those branches too.

I Tie them to the fence because it make it easier for them to pick little pieces off to eat. They also get blackberries growing wild on my back fence (they are invasive here in Oregon) and other weeds that they like. If I have a lettuce that's bolted or kitchen scraps like apple skins that counts too.

 

[PippaN]

I also have ample property and have from time to time pulled a piece of sod...maybe 2'x2' from away from the main yard to set in their run for fun. I did that after I heard of a friend of a friend who cannot free range in city limits and the run was dirt so she (get this) bought hunks of sod from a local sod farm And ran a fresh strip of sod in the run each week LOL!

Throwing in a big bag of grass clippings from the lawn is sure easier and free! They distribute it themselves and it gets cleared out and composted weekly with the next cut.