USED to have grass before chickens-HELP!!

[NCLady52]

OK, I have a question. My chickiepoos have eaten all the grass in my backyard closest to the house. How do I reseed my "mudslide" without them eating all the grass seed? What grass seed is available without a coating that may make them sick or kills them? They free-range my entire backyard with no problems as I have a wonderful protecting dog who loves to play with them. Now that she is no longer a pup she doesn't try to catch them and ends up killing them because she is so much bigger than they are. They actually come up on my deck to try and eat her food, and she LETS them!! lol

 

[Sheepheart]

I think you will just have to keep them from roaming on the area your reseeding. Chickens are really hard on the ground

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Unless you are going to manage your chickens in a rotating pasture style, moving them from field to field as recently decimated greenery recovers, or you plan to expand your yard to acreage size, mud pits where once green grass grew is your future "yard".

Uncoated seed is available in bulk, you didn't identify your location (and you should!), but I've used this with decent [not good/great] results. I've also applied a no till cover crop, AND I've applied a goat and similar livestock grass blend, so my pasture has lots of options. It does not, however, resemble a yard - its too patchwork in size and color.

Good luck!

 

[3KillerBs]

As has already been noted, the only way chickens and grass can co-exist is on the opposite sides of a fence.

Rotating pens is an excellent idea that, IMO, people don't make use of as often as they should.

 

[K0k0shka]

Yeah, chickens and grass don't mix. You keep emphasizing that you would never get rid of the chickens, but nobody is suggesting you should. The solution to a destroyed yard isn't to get rid of the chickens. It's to keep them out of the yard. Or at least out of the areas where you want grass. It doesn't matter if you fence it off temporarily to regrow the grass. The moment you let them back in, they'll destroy it again. So unless you want to do this back and forth indefinitely, you'll just have to find them some other place to live - like a designated run that's just for them, where they can destroy all they want, and leave the area around the house to you. I love my chickens too and wouldn't get rid of them either, but I don't let them into my yard. They have their own yard, fenced off, where they dig trenches and what not. And I have my grass. Everybody's happy.

 

[Kholts]

Could you buy cheap plastic fencing & some rebar or stakes? You know it usually comes in rolls & is green or orange.

You would just have to fence off the area your seeding.

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

I'd X2 the post about planting "forage blends" and clover. White dutch clover is my favorite since it seems to be hardest to kill. Go for a "meadow" effect instead of a golf course. You can still mow it, but it will be a mix of things and not a uniform lawn. But it survives chickens better.

Also, you'll be supporting your local bee and butterfly population with your back yard!

 

[3KillerBs]

Some breeds scratch less then other breeds. Its known that heavy feathered footage chickens scratch less.

No one ever told my Brahmas that.

They can dig a hole deep enough to bring their backs level with the ground in a single afternoon.

 

[turkey girl 0964]

Maybe you could pen up the hens while you let some new grass grow?

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

You can also build 2x4 frames (think window casing but as big as you like) and attach 1/2" chicken wire, then lay on the ground. Allows the chicken to peck at the taller pieces as they grow without scratching up the new roots. Works well if you have fence jumpers and don't like to clip wings.