Sod in the Chicken Yard?

[CrazyChickGirl]

The area that we built our chicken coop and fencing was kind of dry and neglected. There was grass, but not a ton. So as soon as we started building I also started watering to try and help the grass come in more. It did, but then we walked on it a bunch and the chickens started eating it here and there. Still watering and not a lot of change. I think they are eating at the same rate it is growing. The chicken yard is pretty good sized... It allows 80 something sq feet per chicken. Will it not be possible to keep grass growing there? My husband keeps saying that we should put sod down just for the chickens.... Lol. Thoughts or ideas?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

IMO, grass is not their favorite green. I plant all the chicken areas with clover, alfalfa, winter peas, radish, beets, turnips and in summer, buckwheat. All are succulent. They eat everything up but it's their scratching that's harder on the greenery. You might try dividing the area and rotate pasture to give part of the space time to recover.

 

[azelgin]

I used to have a lawn. . . . Then, I let the chickens free range.
Now, I have the chickens banished to the mule pastures. I'm going to have lawn again.

 

[CrazyChickGirl]

Eek...

 

[Judy]

Well, mine have a fenced yard of about 500 sq ft -- I have 9 hens. They have killed much of the grass, and what survives never gets much above soil level. The weeds they won't eat grow high enough to need mowing a few ties a year, but there is very little grass in there. They eat the grass they can reach through the fence, though, lol.

 

[CrazyChickGirl]

So we wanted grass to grow in this area not only for the chickens to munch, but for ground covering/ poo maintenance. There are some other plants and clovers in there too. Hmm. The good news is that it's just a side yard/ chicken yard and not our backyard.

 

[CrazyChickGirl]

What will become of all the poo if there are no plants? Will it cake up and get yucky?? I'm guessing adding two more chicks to the equation will not improve things... Haha

 

[azelgin]

Eek...

Yea, they have a whole 20+ acres to range on, but the lawn was much more inviting, than the rest of the acreage. The devastation starts near the coops and extends outward as they destroy what's closest. I must admit, they did do a nice job of pruning all the low hanging leaves on the peach trees. We have about 70 chickens running free, so, they can do a lot of damage. One of the good things about having them range in the "pasture" (a liberal use of the term, since we're semi desert) is they tear apart the poop piles left by my mules and decrease the fly breeding grounds.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

.... The devastation starts near the coops and extends outward as they destroy what's closest. ...

Exactly.

 

[azelgin]

What will become of all the poo if there are no plants? Will it cake up and get yucky?? I'm guessing adding two more chicks to the equation will not improve things... Haha

Where we are, its dry enough that it gets broken up and washes in (or, away?), when the big rains come. The only place it seems to have built up, was in my carport, where the used to park their butts while free ranging the whole yard. That's another reason they got kicked out.