No grass left in chicken area

[rosemarythyme]

I always see people talk about mowing lawns. This is a foreign concept to me... living on the plains we just let it grow and have a yard full of wild flowers. What grows here naturally, grows well, what doesn't, dies.

I was inclined to just let mine go wild... until I realized my 95 lb dog "disappeared" after running a yard or two onto the lawn.

If it weren't for the animals I wouldn't even have a lawn. I don't see the point. Why grow something that I can't eat, then spend my weekends cutting it down? Dogs gotta poop somewhere though.

 

[HillBilly64]

Thanks.

Grass clippings are fine if they are dry. Deep litter works best where it stays dry, so covered runs are best for it. There is nothing inherently wrong with straw, but it depends on your birds. Some people have had birds eat it and get impactions, so I'd just be aware. Others use it with no problems, so seems to depend on the birds. I use pine shavings, and any dry lawn or leaf waste to add to that, when I have it available. Lots of things will work, the key is that it is dry and you really need about 6" of material at least for it to work well. For grass clippings I leave them lay in the sun for a day or two, then I have a drag sweeper that I use to pick them up, they are very dry. If it rains, those ones just don't get picked up.