Best ways to get grass in coop yards

[Oxydziedhens]

I have many different chicken breeds and as such many different coops as we do show breeding! All of them are separated via fencing in which has sprinklers running along them for the summer as it gets extremely hot here in Western Australia.
Some of the yards has plenty of grass for them to frolic and catch bugs in, but other yards do not have a single blade of grass despite having good soil. Any recommendations to be able to grow grass in these yards? As clearly just trying to let the rain grow some won’t work well for us.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated as I would really love them to have grass

 

[Buckeye Amy]

If you've got chickens in them all the time, they will keep anything from growing. Can you rotate them? Chickens pretty much operate on a scorched earth policy unfortunately.

 

[Debbie292d]

I do not know if you folks in Australia have sod, but that's what we ended up doing for our breeding pens.

I've heard that some places put a plastic liner to keep the dirt in, but up here in Wisconsin they don't do that. It's just grass and dirt.



After a couple of months.

 

[SnackMeat]

You can create "salad bars." The most common design I've seen are square or rectangular wooden frames, with hardware cloth on one side. Til the footprint, sew seeds, and lay the frame over it. You'll have to water it. But the birds can only eat what grows through the hardware cloth and since it'll be 2-3 inches of growth underneath the hardware cloth, it should easily replace itself.


I have seen triangular salad bars where chickens can stick their heads between spokes to grab what they can, but the stuff further in is not accessible and more for greenery, shade, bugs, etc.

 

[Oxydziedhens]

Thank you all for your suggestions! the roatating the coops is a good idea but due to the amount of chickens we have, it’s kinda not feasible
I think I may do the salad bar idea, as that sounds like a good idea and is a good way to provide the chickens with the grass they need while also being able to actually grow it
But if you have anymore ideas feel free to add it to this thread!

 

[D Uccle Uncle]

Any recommendations to be able to grow grass in these yards? As clearly just trying to let the rain grow some won’t work well for us.

My experience is with bermuda grass, what you I think call couch grass. People like it or hate it. People who hate will say that it grows like a weed and you can't get rid of it. From a chicken-keeping standpoint, that's a good thing. Bermuda thrives in the full-sun summer heat, is drought resistant, but does go dormant during the winter. In the spring it bounces back.

Probably the key to keeping any grass around chickens is to first ensure that the grass is very well established before unleashing the chickens on it. For bermuda, this means to, when it first starts growing, mow the grass on the lowest mower setting. Practically can't cut it too short. It will grow horizontal and send down deep roots. After the horizontal growth is dense, around chickens, I allow it to grow vertically at least 2inches (5cm).

Again regarding bermuda, the end result is a dense turf that chokes out most weeds and is too thick for the chickens to easily dig through. Even if they do (usually after over-watering), filling the divot with dirt and a temporary cage around the spot will result in the grass quickly filling back in.

 

[MROO]

Try planting grass/herbs/bean sprouts in a seed tray fitted with a hardware cloth lid. If you do several, you can swap them out to either recover or reseed. I found that they lasted longer if I tipped them up at an angle, so the girls couldn't dig and tear their toes on the wire.

I haven't done that for awhile, though. Our local produce market has inexpensive cabbage and a "Dollar Table" for blemished and overripe veggies, so my birds get "cheater greens" now, instead!

 

[Oxydziedhens]

My experience is with bermuda grass, what you I think call couch grass. People like it or hate it. People who hate will say that it grows like a weed and you can't get rid of it. From a chicken-keeping standpoint, that's a good thing. Bermuda thrives in the full-sun summer heat, is drought resistant, but does go dormant during the winter. In the spring it bounces back.

Probably the key to keeping any grass around chickens is to first ensure that the grass is very well established before unleashing the chickens on it. For bermuda, this means to, when it first starts growing, mow the grass on the lowest mower setting. Practically can't cut it too short. It will grow horizontal and send down deep roots. After the horizontal growth is dense, around chickens, I allow it to grow vertically at least 2inches (5cm).

Again regarding bermuda, the end result is a dense turf that chokes out most weeds and is too thick for the chickens to easily dig through. Even if they do (usually after over-watering), filling the divot with dirt and a temporary cage around the spot will result in the grass quickly filling back in.

That sounds like a very good idea! As I mainly have Orpington’s! I may find the seeds for that grass and get some and when I plant them I can fence it off away from the chickens and that way it can have time to grow!