USED to have grass before chickens-HELP!!

[Carolgozreh]

Thanks! Starting with your initial suggestion...gets here 3/11 from Amazon. I'm off the whole next week so can work on fencing that area off.

I was thinking about setting up a rotation in a large run. Have 2*4 boards assembled in squares (3 of them) with 1/2 hardware cloth over it to limit access to the ground and protect the vegetation, periodically uncover areas and/or section areas to rotate into. One area of the run would always be exposed. The other 4 sections would get a week of use then three weeks off to recover.
For you, the area you seed could be covered by the raised hardware cloth. (Even if it's not rotated. ) Just ac thought.

 

[TraceeP1]

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

Recently I saw a portable chicken coop! The owners would periodically move the entire coop to new areas of their yard so there wouldn't be so much damage! Other than that, I would use a portable fence to block off areas of new seed. I have a baby playpen that I use to keep my mini flock contained to areas I want then to be in!

 

[metarachel]

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.

We did this and found that you have to be pretty particular with what you put in there because clovers and vetches and such tend to get stuck beneath the 1/2" hardware cloth. We started with those items because of high nutritional value and variety, but ultimately, we had to let the girls dig em all up and start fresh. A mix of grasses worked out great--the growing strands poke easily through the holes of the hardware cloth and the girls nip off the tips so reliably that it never actually looks like the grass is growing; if it makes it through a hole, it's GONE, lol!

 

[metarachel]

I was thinking about setting up a rotation in a large run. Have 2*4 boards assembled in squares (3 of them) with 1/2 hardware cloth over it to limit access to the ground and protect the vegetation, periodically uncover areas and/or section areas to rotate into. One area of the run would always be exposed. The other 4 sections would get a week of use then three weeks off to recover.
For you, the area you seed could be covered by the raised hardware cloth. (Even if it's not rotated. ) Just ac thought.

Be careful though with having too much of the chickens' area covered in hardware cloth; it's hard on their feet.

 

[countryladyNH]

The minute we put down grass seed the hens ate it. So frustrating because we had areas of yard we had to reseed (not because of hens). We keep hens in the run until the grass is up and growing. It just has to be done. Usually we get the seed down as soon as we can, and it's about 3 weeks or so.

 

[Dishens]

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!

Do the chickens eat the seed before cut sprouts? I would love to try this.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Do the chickens eat the seed before cut sprouts? I would love to try this.

My chickens eat seed before anything. Pounds and Pounds of it. Flew the fences to get at fields I had seeded.

 

[Mach 2]

Don't know if anyone mentioned this but we had the same problem, especially the most common path to drive to the barn it's just grass but thin and compacted.

We bought a couple of rolls of rolled excelsior.

https://www.siteone.com/en/landscape-supply-erosion-control/c/sh1213101100

It worked well and wasn't too expensive. Another year we scattered some of our hay over the seed and dealt with the weeds or volunteers after the grass was established.

 

[Bill752]

Around 5 years ago we bought an acreage with a nice size backyard & a jungle beyond that which took 5 months to clear the brush out. We had it down to bare dirt & I thought about seeding it but first we installed a perimeter fence that would keep them in once grown & then raised chicks in a rabbit hatch that we'd found in the underbrush. It reseeded itself on its own & while the chicken pen we made remain nothing but dirt, we rotate our chickens between the backyard & their pasture & built a shed last year as we had 50 chickens before we started butchering most of the roosters. Both the backyard & pasture stay green & rotating them is the key. We also have a few ducks that we rotate into the garden as well to keep the bugs & grass down to a manageable level. We had a lot of frogs eating the bugs in the garden as well but the chickens had them for dessert before the ducks had a chance to.

 

[Chickenclaude]

Exactly that problem ledmetomake a chicken tractor using pvc pipe and coated chicken wire that I put them in and drag around the yard to keep them from trashing my lawn(weed). It works quite well to keep the yard fertilized and bug free. I made a wooden frame so I could put wheels on one side and fastened the chicken wire w zip ties.