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

[Steph101]

The grass seems to no longer be renewing itself, it's just looking more and more threadbare. I do like to free range them as much as possible though, as the eggs

taste far superior when they do. What is the answer? Or isn't there one?

[Janty]

I gave up on the garden. The chickens are winning in our house.

 

[abwsco]

Steph, we decided to bite the bullet and section off some of the garden for them. This was the finished result on Sunday.

 

 

and we still feel guilty

[BeckyBoo]

Sad to say that really is all you can do. Chickens and lawns and winter weather do not mix. You can either let them out and give up on your garden, keep them in a run or fence a bit of the garden off for them. If you let them out onto the grass and you haven't got acres to spread them out over, you will have no lawn left by spring

On the other hand the mud that's left will be VERY fertile after all that chicken poo!

 

Mrs B

[KAZAROO]

I HAVE GOT SOME OF THIS....http://www.meadowmania.co.uk/default.cfm/loadlevel.3/loadindex.190

 

SO will be TRYING to reclaim some of my grass... ho hum

[fowlbird]

Mrs B, you are so right about the chickenpoo! Our lawns were both destroyed by the combined efforts of dogs and chooks. In the end we fenced off the whole of the garden beyond the (ruined) herb garden. The girls still have a large area to scratch around in and we have our lawns back because OH dug over the muddy areas and turfed them - the grass never stops growing - must be all the poo

[Steph101]

I HAVE GOT SOME OF THIS....http://www.meadowmania.co.uk/default.cfm/loadlevel.3/loadindex.190

 

SO will be TRYING to reclaim some of my grass... ho hum

 

So those are grass seeds? Presumably you have to keep the chickens off the lawn for it to work? How do they differ from the grass seeds in the shops?

[Egluntyne]

I'd be fascinated to hear how you get on with this Kazaroo.

[ali-s]

I HAVE GOT SOME OF THIS....http://www.meadowmania.co.uk/default.cfm/loadlevel.3/loadindex.190

 

 

 

I will be buying some of these seeds

 

In my Home Farm book there is a meadow recipe for Poultry which includes pereninal ryegrass and creeping red fescue. You then add the "seasonings" such as sheeps parsley, burnet, yarrow, and chicory which contain vitamins, minerals, protein and calcium. I have a large area of garden which I plan to use as the chickens summer area.

 

My lawn is also suffering now, so today I have started to move the Eglus onto their winter area. I will be using wood chips in the run.

[wombatally]

ABWSCO - is that netting that you've used or wire? Looks like what I'm needing but can't fathom where to start!

 

Thanks

[A chickychickychick-ENN!!]

Anne that's a fab run! My grass is deaded. They leave the long stuff which needs their pecking and eat all the threadbare bits. Oh well!

 

Anna x

[karlotta]

My garden was ruined long ago by huge Newfoundland feet (including my current two girls) - what's left is pretty tough - i think we have mutant strong grass in the bits that aren't dug up/sqished - so there's not a lot more damage some chooks can do!

[jools+6]

dog plus hens plus trampoline equals ... slabs , minus trampoline ... but we did leave them a good bit to rumage in , there's always the front garden too . it's amazing how many herbs you can grow in the front garden ... even when it's mo"Ooops, word censored!"locked and chipped !!!!!! (pre hens)

[jools+6]

My garden was ruined long ago by huge Newfoundland feet (including my current two girls) - what's left is pretty tough - i think we have mutant strong grass in the bits that aren't dug up/sqished - so there's not a lot more damage some chooks can do!

i would kill for a newfoundland ! gav says no . mind he said that about the hens ... the lab (ollie) is as near as he will let me get to a newfoundland and only cos i had an old soppy lab when i met him . apparently he hated labs cos one bit his bum when he was a boy ... serves him right if you ask me ... he won't let me get a bigger dog at all where did you get your girls from ? i could work on him ....

[A chickychickychick-ENN!!]

dog plus hens plus trampoline equals ... slabs , minus trampoline ... but we did leave them a good bit to rumage in , there's always the front garden too . it's amazing how many herbs you can grow in the front garden ... even when it's mo"Ooops, word censored!"locked and chipped !!!!!! (pre hens)

 

For a long second there, I thought your hens were getting bouncy on a trampoline! Doh!

 

Anna x

[karlotta]

My garden was ruined long ago by huge Newfoundland feet (including my current two girls) - what's left is pretty tough - i think we have mutant strong grass in the bits that aren't dug up/sqished - so there's not a lot more damage some chooks can do!

i would kill for a newfoundland ! gav says no . mind he said that about the hens ... the lab (ollie) is as near as he will let me get to a newfoundland and only cos i had an old soppy lab when i met him . apparently he hated labs cos one bit his bum when he was a boy ... serves him right if you ask me ... he won't let me get a bigger dog at all where did you get your girls from ? i could work on him ....

 

My girls have all been from a breeder near to me in Southampton -might be abit far for you! They are very lovely, but I hope you aren't house proud! Slobber on ceilings (and frankly everywhere else !!) is almost as slimy as chicken poos! (gues that is why i wasn't shocked by them!)