Patridge bantam chicken poorly foot?

[Electricbarbarella]

I have just put lawn seed down as my lawn is reallyu looking sorry fior itself, not from the chickens but from me walking all over it in all weather.

Anyway if I let them out they will just eat all the seed wont they,

How long would you leave it. i don't want to keep the girls cooped up, although they are fine.

[stoice]

Will be vulnerable for a while. We've made a duck board (Shouldn't that be a chicken board?) out of some pallets. Arrange a few strips in a row with gaps inbetween. Screw in cross pieces to attach them all together but make sure they're 'end on' so the board looks like a raised platform. (Like a garden bench without legs) The girls can walk over the top and the new grass get light, and doesn't get squashed or scratched at.

[Bondinho]

Yeah they will not just eat it but they will scratch at it and ruin the garden even more!

 

I just put some chicken wire over the patches of lawn that I wanted to re-grow - worked a treat. You can buy a big bit and then just cut it to size so it can cover numerous patches if you need it to. I had about 15 all over my garden, my neighbours thought I was a bit weird I think

 

It took a good month or so before it was left alone by them though, as when I mowed it first few times it was still quite patchy until the grass grew a bit stronger.

[Electricbarbarella]

I am not a good gardener, i have let them out, I love my chooks more than my grass, mind you they don't seem to actually have been eating it.

[Sandychick]

Almost all grass seed now has a repellent in it to stop wild birds eating it. Not sure what it is but it does put them off. My chickens didn't eat the grass seed either.

 

The problem is more that they will love the prepared soil that the grass seeds are on. Lovely place for a dust bath. The squirrels cause me more problems than chickens though!