Sod in the Chicken Yard?

[Ridgerunner]

Plants don’t have anything to do with what happens to the poo. It’s unlikely yours is going to build up and cake up in that big an area. What should happen is that they will scratch it and mix it up and microbes will eat it. I call that rotting but many people call it composting. It’s the way nature recycles nutrients. If space is tight it might build up, but your space is not tight.

Whether or not you can grow grass in there depends on how many chickens you have, how big it is, your climate, and the time of the year. Someone in the middle of the Arizona desert might get a different response than someone in Seattle or Miami on the same square footage per chicken.

Right now I have mine locked in my 12’ x 32’ run, which will stay barren as long as I have chickens, while I let the 30’ x65’ area inside my electric netting establish grass. If I leave them on that area, they’ll eat anything green that show up. Once it gets well established it can keep up until winter, though I may have to water it a few times in the dry summer.

I have 7 hens and one rooster. They can keep that area picked clean of anything green whole it is sprouting. But this summer when it is established I’ll have over 40 chickens on it and it will stay green. Most of those will be young chicks so it’s not as many as it sounds.

 

[WYNot]

If you want some greens in the run for your chickens, check out this thread...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/862820/grass-in-run#post_13018634


My contribution to the thread mentioned above...

Might get a bit pricey.

Do some searches and you'll find some great threads on sprouting fodder for them.

Or you can make some rectangular frames out of 2x4's. Staple some hardware cloth across the top of these frames. Place a few of these frames in the run. They will allow the grass to grow and give bugs a place to hide. The chickens won't be able to kill off the grass completely as they can't get to the roots. They can eat the grass as it grows out through the hardware cloth. They can also hunt for bugs that wander too far from the protection of the frames.

Quick Bing search turned up this great article...
http://www.thegardencoop.com/blog/2012/02/07/grazing-frames-backyard-chickens/

 

[jetdog]

Try splitting the run in two, let that area grow up and then turn them lose.You can keep alternating them back and forth.

 

[EmeraldSkye]

I just found this nice blend on Amazon, not very expensive: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FQPIZ2Y/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Oh, and if you buy a few packs, the shipping only goes up a few cents per extra pack.

I also ordered this to try: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005OPNFY4/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It's a cover crop blend but I believe the chickens will like everything in it.

 

[St Pete Chick]

I know this is an old post but I'm pretty sure I just lost 2 of my pullets today due to the new sod we put in the run. We had a bad storm 3 weeks ago and it got real muddy in there so we decided to make the ground higher with sod. Within 10 days 2 of the 3 hens I had croaked the same way. Perfectly normal one day, listless in the morning, unable to stand then dead by noon. Do not chance it. A lot of Sod is treated for bugs that is toxic to chickens. Better to be safe than sorry.