4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[StephanieSB]

Another grass-related question (I know, I'm getting obsessed wtih lawns )

 

My husband has made me promise that I will not completely wreck his lawn and that I will rotate the cube and 2m run as often as is necessary to keep things looking green. I have also promised to re-seed any damaged lawn etc.

 

So -- how often is optimal for moving the cube to rest an area of lawn? (if it were up to the hubby, I'd move it twice a day!)

 

And -- should I reseed a bald patch immediately? even if that means several times over the summer? or is reseeding a once a year things? (sorry, totally ignorant about gardening).

 

Lastly -- do you move the cube and run with the chickens inside the house? or do I have to let them freerange while I move it? or will they step along with me, traveling under the moving run, if I move things slowly?

 

Thanks.

[Roxanne]

My 4 Omlet girls could easily destroy a patch of grass under the cube and run in about 4-6 days so needed to be moved quite regularly ( so I bought the netting to give them a larger patch to run around in). I used to move the cube at dusk when the girls had gone up to bed - but if they are allowed out to free range you could do it them. I found if I moved it when they were around, one always wanted to get into the run to eat or drink and they ALWAYS got in the way. As you can't see over the top of the cube when moving it (by myself) it was safer to do it when you cannot squash a chicken!!

Even with the netting, I moved the cube and run round inside the confined area once a week, so the netted area lasted about a month.

I then moved it to a second area and raked and seeded/fed the first area which came back beautifully this year - with the exception of the dust bath holes which need filling in and reseeding/ turving.

My girls all now live on hard-standing with an adjacent grass area!!

Hope that helps... my husband is a bit precious about his lawn too!!

[StephanieSB]

Oh, gosh. That helps a lot, yes. It might help me to convince my husband to give up some space on our brick patio for use as a hard standing -- he is reluctant, as he thinks it will then be too close to the house and an eye sore. But I think once he sees what can happen a lawn if I don't move the cube frequently enough, or if we go away and leave a sitter with the chickens (whom I will not ask to move cubes around), he will give in about the patio. I think I'd rather that than constant lawn care. But if I have to, I will... your tips have been really great. Thanks.

[Roxanne]

Good luck Stephanie - life will never be the same again!

[..lay a little egg for me]

Move the cube when the chickens are in bed or only move it a very short way if they are free ranging. They are not very bright at noticing their home has moved and will all pile up where the cube used to be at bedtime if you move it too far!!! If they come out of the cube after it has moved they seem to remember where it was!

 

Can that article about chickens being more intelligent than cats or dogs really be true??? Obviously only in a very limited range of areas!!

[Hen Watch]

In Spring/Summer - I moved my eglu twice a week, grass bounced back a week later a lovely dark green colour (with all that chicken manure).

 

But as soon as Autumn/winter came, the grass stops growing as temperature is too low. Then I switched to a permanent area with lots of Auboise in the run and shower curtain on top. The grass damaged in the winter is just growing back now.

 

So I am now back to Spring/Summer rotation again.

[StephanieSB]

Thanks Caroline and Katy. Good advice. If I cannot convince my husband of the hard standing idea, then I do have room to move the cube weekly in a semicircle around a part-shady, part-sunny section of the garden. I could do a 5 week rotation, actually, if I am measuring the cube and run properly. I think come winter time, moving to the patio with lots of bedding underfoot would be best. I'll be chicken master of the homestead by then, anyway, so my word for what is best for the chooks will be law!

 

Thanks again.

[TAJ]

StephanieSB - did I read that correctly 'chickens too close to the house@?!! - there is no such thing - my hubby though they would be good arounf the side of the house (out of site) - currently they are as close to the house on the patio as they can be - whatever the weather I can watch them all day.

 

Tracy

[StephanieSB]

StephanieSB - did I read that correctly 'chickens too close to the house@?!! - there is no such thing - my hubby though they would be good arounf the side of the house (out of site)

 

Hi Tracy,

 

Yes, my husband suggested the already sad patch of dirt next to his shed, which is behind a monster bush and not visible from the house and gets no sunshine whatsoever. We use it to burn leaves. He thought that would be the best place

 

His 'too close to the house' should really be translated as 'too close to my kitchen garden', which he has only just dug the ground for. Clashing pet projects is what this is!

[Gallina]

I wouldn't re-seed: it would take a year before grass from seed could withstand hens.

 

I keep a small patch of grass at the end of the garden which I use for digging up and filling in holes made by the hens. When it is newly planted, I have to remember to put my garden sieve upside down over it when the hens are out, otherwise they dig it straight up.

 

The secret is to fill in the hole before it gets too big. Also if you keep an area of soil well hoed so it is easy to dig, the hens will tend to choose the easier option.

 

My grass is still admired despite the ravages of the hens, but it is hard work. Luckily I am the gardener in the family: if anyone else introduced a pet which did what my hens do I would be incandescent, so I do feel for your husband.

 

(Everyone will be pleased that I managed not to mention my two cubes in this message!)

[HENthusiastic]

StephanieSB, have you considered swapping your husband?? You could find a chicken loving one instead?? That would solve the problem!

[StephanieSB]

[Stevie]

I move my Eglu every 2-3 days so there isnt any substantial damage done.I get a rectangle of short grass and you can see where they've been scratching about,but it only takes couple of days for it to recover.

 

Bare earth takes months!

[tenzin]

Its the winter months that cause the most damage , at this time of year sow seeds and keep them off the bald patches and so on .

[moomin]

We are just about to erect a walk-in run on our patio (we just have the small task of building the patio first ).

 

The run will be about 3 -4 ft from the house!

 

My husband comments from time to time 'are you sure it won't be too close to the house?' - but I am going to LOVE it - watching the chooks from the comfort of my arm chair when it's horrible weather!

 

I will need to keep on top of the poo though (not literally!), so that it doesn't smell

[chelsea]

Its the winter months that cause the most damage .

 

agree. We had to returf after the winter this year. We were left with a mud patch

 

You should be ok in the summer, in the autumn you might want to prepare a "permanent spot" for your eglu over the winter or fence/partition off your grass.