Saving grass clippings

[lauranickerson]

So my chickens and ducks go nuts for grass! I'm sure they're not the only ones. I plan to let them free range eventually, but they're only a couple months old, and I was thinking of letting them out once they started laying, so that they knew where to lay at first.

Anyways, that's a different story.

As it is, they already ate anything green from their run. I just did the first lawn mow of the year, and I was left with heaps and wheelbarrow loads of grass clippings. I threw a handful in and they went bananas.

Then I got to thinking.

What if there was a way to save these grass clippings. Maybe I could freeze them in zip locks, or maybe freeze them in water in bags or something. For the hot summers Michigan can get, I can throw a big ice block in there (or in the duck pool) and they can eat the grass as it melts. Then I could just throw plain clippings in a ziplock, and for the treacherous winters we get, I can maybe heat them a little and throw them in the coop or run...where ever they will be in the winter (I haven't decided if they'll go outside in the winter yet...all depends on if we get a roof on our run).


Has anyone done this before? Anyone think it would work? Let me know what you think - good OR bad! Thanks!

 

[ChickensRDinos]

It might be easier to just grow fodder for year-round greens. I do a wheat/barley/BOSS blend that the chickens love. You can control the nutrition better and also keep it pesticide free (in case you use anything on your lawn).

It is pretty cheap and easy once you get set up and they have a nice fresh clump of fresh healthy sprouts and roots to eat daily without having to worry about freezing or storing stuff. You can always compost your lawn clipping if you do not want them to go to waste.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/713334/growing-fodder-for-chickens

 

[Bush Chickens]

I've heard that grass clippings can form a ball in their crop,causing impaction,and that you should never feed it to them

 

[ChickensRDinos]

I've heard that grass clippings can form a ball in their crop,causing impaction,and that you should never feed it to them

I think it would depending on the length. Long grasses and weeds can do this but if you are cutting your lawn regularly and it is just little bite sized pieces I don't see it being an issue. Maybe someone else has more experience.

 

[Bush Chickens]

I just read it in a book,so I was wondering :/

 

[lauranickerson]

Thanks guys!

Yeah, I have a compost pile already, but maybe I'll have to make another one.

I'll make sure not to give them too long of pieces. Sometimes I just pick some and throw it in, but it's never more than a couple inches, because I tear it up in my hands. I'll throw some extra grit in the run for them to peck at to make sure they don't get impacted crop (which is frightening after scrolling through the diseases/injuries thread).

I'll definitely look into the fodder. I've skimmed over the practice, but never read into it in depth.

Thanks again!

 

[ChickensRDinos]

Grit won't help impacted crop because the crop is above the gizzard in the digestive system...of course lack of grit can cause other problem so it's never bad to give. Just wanted to let you know that the two things are unrelated. I had a bird get an impacted crop from long grass. But, it was very long weeds and grass that were up to her chest -- not a normal backyard lawn situation. I felt badly after for letting her graze there. It is really just long pieces of anything that could be eaten whole and then tangle and knot seriously inside. A few inches I don't think would do that.

 

[nguyenkinhphuc2]

Do you all have anything against raising soy bean plants for chickens using grazing frame (similar to below)?

http://www.thegardencoop.com/blog/2012/02/07/grazing-frames-backyard-chickens/

I know that soy bean is not good for chickens, but how about the plant only?