Run size? Not to kill the grass

[Cassidy Love]

I am wondering how big enough not to kill the grass.
Thanks
Cassidy Love

 

[Hokum Coco]

I have 11 birds my run is 8x24. The run is dirt in about a month. When you figure it out Private Message me.

 

[MrsBachbach]

Ha! At the very least, an acre.

 

[thomasboyle]

It depends on where you live. I have 20 birds in CT, and their fenced in grass run is about 1/10th of an acre. I let them out each day for 4 hours each evening after work, and they have barely made a dent in the grass. We've had a rainy June, so I had to mow it. Living in AZ would yield a very different result! Even if you don't have acres for the birds, you can limit the time they spend to manage the grass growth.

 

[teach1rusl]

Hi Cassidy (is this Cassidy of Indiana - who used to keep seramas?). I started out with five hens in a 16x32 run. My run stayed nice and green. BUT...I also began letting them free range when I was home. And I acquired more chickens...AND the moles hit big time. Every place a mole digs up through - the chickens find it and make a dustbath out of it. I now have 11 birds in that run, and I think if I didn't free range most of the time, it would look like the surface of the moon...
Crystal - Floyds Knobs

 

[Cassidy Love]

Yes Cassidy of Indiana who used to raise seramas. I only have large fowl now u need to have a run for 11 salmon Faverolles another run for three or 4 white wyandottes and I don't want to kill the grass

 

[teach1rusl]

Yes Cassidy of Indiana who used to raise seramas.

LOL! I still have (pet) seramas, but won't be getting any more simply because they're just not hardy enough for my tastes...faverolles are very sweet. I had one that died of internal laying, and she was great. I'll probably add another down the road sometime.

If you aren't going to free range at all - they'll be contained all of the time, then the run for the 11 SF will have to be BIG to keep grass. I mispoke earlier, as my main run is 16 x 36. That coop houses 11 birds, 2 of which are bantam. I do let them free range quite a bit, and it's obvious to me that if I kept them contained full time, their run would be a wasteland. My original 5 did fine in that run...so the space worked for them (and looked really good). So I'd say your 11 would need something double that size (again, if you're wanting it to stay green).

Personally, unless you guys just have a ton of space and a ton of fencing, I'd just plan on sand. I just picked up one ton this morning at Earth First in Greenville...$20. It drains well and is easy to keep clean - simple run a rake over it to get out the larger clumps - like a giant litter box.

 

[Cassidy Love]

I want my birds to have grass to eat but I want to make sure my faverolles are pure and I have a Cochin rooster in my free range laying flock maybe I will picky the best of them and pen them up like 4 hens and a Roo instead

 

[ddriscoll]

build run with 1/2 inch hardware cloth floating an inch over the ground to keep the chickens from killing the grass. The grass will grow up through the mesh, but the chickens won't be able to get down to the roots to kill it.

 

[MrsBachbach]

build run with 1/2 inch hardware cloth floating an inch over the ground to keep the chickens from killing the grass. The grass will grow up through the mesh, but the chickens won't be able to get down to the roots to kill it.

Good idea, but make sure you have an area for dustbathing!