Can you ever have grass with chickens?

[BubbaLikesIt]

The chickens have eaten every blade of grass we had in our back yard. The forage everyday and have managed to consume all plants in the yard except for two trees. We feed our chickens like royalty but they like to scratch and dig. Is there a grass or ground cover that chickens don't like?

 

[Judy]

I have 14 hens in a 70' x 70' yard. They eat the grass in it, but leave several other types of "weed" plants, such as dog fennel. so that we have to mow the yard a few times every summer to keep it at reasonable heights. They eat grass through the fence, and new sprouts as they come up.

 

[Naser]

No there isn't
You can cover the ground with chicken wire to stop them digging
If you have a big garden you balance the number of your chickens to the area of your garden

 

[Judy]

Well, yes, it can be done and a flock can even be self sustaining. But it takes a lot of land, and depends to some extent on how good the forage is for them. There are people whose chickens See esp. posts 8 and 9 here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/841926/how-many-chickens-can-you-have-in-your-flock#post_13389710

 

[aart]

If you do this you can:

 

[azygous]

Well, yes you can if you plant the right kind of grass, and make sure it's established before you let the chickens have their way with it.

The secret to having grass and chickens is to plant dryland pasture bunch grasses in lieu of European sod grasses. The bunch grasses have very deep root systems while the sod grasses have very shallow roots, making the later vulnerable to chicken feet scratching the roots out of the soil.

I'm lucky to have native bunch grasses surrounding my place, and my chickens are busy right now eating the new, tender green shoots right down to the soil level, but their busy little feet aren't able to dig up the roots, so my grass is chicken-proof, you might say.

 

[Richard49]

I have buffalo grass which is a range grass here in Kansas. I just turned my dwindling flock on to it last year and they were too busy eating all of the grasshoppers to worry about the grass. I'll keep everyone informed by posting later this spring. I sure hope they kill everything in the yard but the Buffalo grass

 

[Richard49]

I have buffalo grass which is a range grass here in Kansas. I just turned my dwindling flock on to it last year and they were too busy eating all of the grasshoppers to worry about the grass. I'lol keep everyone informed by posting later this spring.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Annual or bi-annual grasses do poorly when grazed by chickens. Perennial grasses that keep coming back from the roots every year are better. However even then you will need to either restrict the number of birds on the yard or else work out a way to rotate graze.

 

[BubbaLikesIt]

I guess I have some headstrong chickens (14). They live in a 1/4 acre area and have managed to eat every grass, bug, spider and mouse in the whole area. These chickens would eat ticks off a live polar bear. Their more like dinosaurs than chickens. Honestly, I got no real complaints and the eggs are wonderful.