Patricia7455 Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 As someone in the planning stages of getting chickens, I am a bit worried about what's going to happen to the grass. We have a patch of grass measuring about 20 to 25 sq metres in the back garden, which also has other types of terrains, including a patio complete with weeds growing through the cracks and a strip of rough ground beside the house, complete with creepy crawlies. But my OH is not all that keen on the idea of chickens so I don't want the grass to be made too much of a mess of, although I want them to go on it. How do some people keep their lawns looking good? At the hen party I went to the hostess (Lisa) had a lovely back lawn. If you are reading this, Lisa - how did you manage to keep it so nice? Anyone else with nice grass AND chickens? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaronmusgrove123 Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 hiya patrica,do you mean the eglu run or when they are free-ranging. The run- they will ruin the grass in the run but if you put down paving slabs with hemcore or aubiose , or you could just put some wood chippings down(B&Q)(have a look on the link in my sig it has all the pics of mine on wood cippings Free-ranging-i dont think they will ruin your grass when free ranging (mine have'nt) but if you have a veg patch they will ruin it but you could try getting a bantam like pekin's or silkie's or r.i.r bantams Aaron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia7455 Posted November 10, 2008 Author Share Posted November 10, 2008 Thank you for your reply I have just had a look at your pekins and silkies, they are sooo GORGEOUS!! Will have another look when I'm browsing later! Yes I can see that you have a lovely chipped area and nice grass, I will probably be converting a disused flower bed into a run with chips and Hemcore for the cube and let the chickens free range over the other areas, and it's encouraging to see that your grass is so nice, Best wishes Patricia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaronmusgrove123 Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 its good to see someone who thinks our grass is nice i have to tell you i wouldnt want to walk bare foot over my grass with 4 dogs hahahahaha (my lab is very old and her wee is so acidiv it kills the grass ) but wee love them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Watch Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 Patricia, I personally think it depends on a number of factors. 1. Summer or winter? Summer I have no problem, rotate chooks eglu and grass bounces back lovely, fertilized and green. Winter, grass doesn't grow, so it gets eaten and then it's gone. I move the chooks after the winter, reseed the area, and it regrows. 2. your soil type? Mine is clay. So boggy and wet when it rains persistently. I make sure my chooks are not let out on really, really wet days or they will rip up the grass in seconds searching for worms coming to the surface. 3. how often do you plan to let them free range your grass? If your chooks free range dusk till dawn then they have more chance to scratch etc. 4. If free ranging lots, can you contain them to one area with fencing? This is my solution. My lot have their own area of garden behind some flexible Omlet fencing. Yes it was an investment of £60 but I rotate them. In Winter they are on the left of my garden, in Summer on the right, and in Autumn in the middle. 5. Can the eglu live on your patio for winter???? You can then move the chickens to the grass in the summer? Early last winter........ Later on, last winter......gress turned to mud, but we reseeded spring, summer it regrew, and guess what, now the chooks are back again this winter. Don't let your husbands worries about grass put you off getting chickens. They really are great pets. But manage his expectations that careful planning and different seasons will mean you are always on top of the situation. Having said all this, there are LOADS of Omleteers who will come along now with lovely pictures of their gardens and blow all my theories out of the water. Hope you manage to convince OH to get chooks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia7455 Posted November 11, 2008 Author Share Posted November 11, 2008 Dear Henwatch, thank you very much for your very informative reply. It has given me a lot to think about and I think I probably will use the patio over the winter to put the eglu/cube when I get it and use Omlet fencing to keep them off the grass or section it off. In summer, there is room to reposition the cube and run in 3-4 positions which should give the grass time to grow back. I was going to use a not much used flower/veg bed to position the cube, but I think I will try using the patio/lawn rotation first. Then I can still grow some veg! Also I could use the omlet fencing to section off a bit of the front garden where we have lots of grass, and the chickens can sometimes have access to it via Creepy Crawly Alley down the side of the house for free ranging. Once again thanks for your time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted November 11, 2008 Share Posted November 11, 2008 It also depends a bit on the breed/characters you have. Henwatch has given you a very good summary of things to consider, and I'd add breed type. Ours (orps and polands) don't do much damage except making dustbaths in the middle of the grass as well as under bushes. We don't mind because we have the space. And if you provided a permanent covered bath I'm sure its not an issue. Our neighbours 3 (a leghorn cross, silver sussex and a brown hen) wreck her garden even less; she has beautifully closely beaked grass which looks like a golf course. But another neighbour has 2 brown hens and a skyline which are much more active. We looked after them once for a few days and it looked like they were planning on going to Australia having taken every blade of grass up by its roots in their run first. Pekins are a popular choice as they have feathered legs and don't peck so much, and I guess most bantams are generally less destructive than larger girls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cordelia Posted November 11, 2008 Share Posted November 11, 2008 I'm afraid my chickens ruined the lawn under the eglu adn run in a matter of two days. Beacuse the weather was so wet in August I think that was when we got our hens, the grass hadnt been able to be cut, so was quite long (a few inches long, but untidy) Consequently my husand gave it a close cut, which was a disaster as all the extra walking on it, meant it has never recovered, what with all the extra rain we've been having. (we have a dog too which doesnt help) Our Eglu and run are now are bark/wood chips Another point worth thinking about is your route to the eglu....we didnt think about it, and consequently have no path, and this causes further ruination of the lawn.. I may have to think about moivng the eglu from its permanent base (not an easy job) as I dont really want a permanent path through the nicest view of the garden, but the lawn is now ruined as a consequence... We have major mud problems, due to my constant traffic daily and the dog churning up the law/mud bath. I'm sure others will have planned better than us, but this is our current situation... it will recover when and if it ever drys out... so my advice would be to plan, and pave, or at least access where you wont be walking on lawn daily.. Further to Daphne's post, our chickens scratch and pull up grass too, although their poop did make parts grow well.....(and that is another problem, if you dont poop pick, when they free range, like those lazy people amongst us....like me !! ), you have that tramped in by the dog too ......joy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted November 11, 2008 Share Posted November 11, 2008 good point about the access...thats our biggest problem traipsing to the hen houses across grass especially as the garden slopes down towards our house. We may have to lay slabs or something. The garden never drained from the summer properly and it already looks like it would do in January. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia7455 Posted November 11, 2008 Author Share Posted November 11, 2008 One of the lovely things about this forum is hearing about people's different experiences, and the issues of choosing breeds to cause less destruction and thinking of access are also useful things to consider, and I had not thought of them, so thank you for those. Although we only have a smallish patch of grass in the back we have lots of places, not too precious ones, where the hens could rummage and dig so, hopefully they would choose to dig there rather than dig up the lawn!! Have to wait and see, though! Actually, apart from not being very big I think our garden is ideal for a few hens as it could be fully enclosed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Watch Posted November 11, 2008 Share Posted November 11, 2008 Being enclosed is a good thing as then you already potentially have two sides to your chicken area. If you see my pics, 3 sides are accounted for (2 fences and the house) so I only had to run the Omlet netting down one side to form a nice area for them (plus a little door made from flexible trellis). This winter they are on the same patch as last winter but I have put the eglu on the patio so a nice short distance from back door and no squelchy grass to walk on. Also new for this year I cut my Omlet netting in half (gasp..... ). I don't electrify my netting so it didn't matter, and now I have 12.5m netting in same place as last year, plus 12.5m of netting on the otherside protecting my flower border which they ate last winter, but NOT this year.....Hooray. So my point is that even after 19 months of chicken keeping, and having them in 4 different locations, where they go in the garden and how it is set up is still evolving as I learn from my mistakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia7455 Posted November 12, 2008 Author Share Posted November 12, 2008 That's one of the things I'm looking forward to with having a chicken family, being able to organise them and try different things out. I did wonder how you divided your garden into 3 with one length of omlet fencing - that's the answer, you've made it into 2 pieces! One more question, when you put your eglu on the patio, do you put the chippings directly onto the slabs? and if so how do you stop the chickens kicking the chippings out of the run. Also do they get waterlogged during heavy rain? I have been thinking about putting a layer of ground sheeting underneath, with holes in for drainage, and the edges going up the sides of the run for about 20cm to keep the bits inside. Maybe the chickens would be skidding about in it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike-J Posted November 12, 2008 Share Posted November 12, 2008 Something I would add to the chat about fencing in, is that some chickens can jump/fly quite high- I bought omlet fencing as initially I was going to fence off part of the lawn, however my isa browns were able to get over the fence. I didn't want to clip their wings as we have quite a few cats round us and I wasn't sure how the hens would cope- I wanted them to be able to get away if needed! (although I think its maybe turned out the other way round and the cats are scared when Dora runs towards them...!) What I ended up doing as you may see from other threads is fence in the veg patch and vulnerable plants and let the hens have the run of the rest of the garden. I've had them from March and so far grass is fine although we'll see over the winter. What the others say about poo is very relevant- they do produce an unbelieveable amount for their size! It's pretty easy to lift with a pair of rubber gloves 2 or 3 times a week and its great for the compost heap. My husband wasn't keen but gave me the go ahead as I've been a pretty laid back wife over the years! Now he's keener on the girls than me if thats possible. (althought he doesn't do eglu cleaning or poo lifting!) Good luck whatever you do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plum Posted November 12, 2008 Share Posted November 12, 2008 how do you stop the chickens kicking the chippings out of the run. Also do they get waterlogged during heavy rain? I have been thinking about putting a layer of ground sheeting underneath, with holes in for drainage, and the edges going up the sides of the run for about 20cm to keep the bits inside. Maybe the chickens would be skidding about in it though. Hi, I have put mine on slabs with about 4 ins of woodchip. I put some lawn edging around it but then they went daft today and energetically kicked it up and over the top So went back and got the deep one. Some people have put boards along the edge. Keeps them really busy digging and pecking in the woodchip, there must be bugs or something in it. It shouldn't get waterlogged as I have the omlet cover and then an Ikea under £1 shower curtain to keep rain off side. There are quite a few pictures on here somewhere of what others have done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Watch Posted November 12, 2008 Share Posted November 12, 2008 I only use 1 inch of Auboise straight on top of the slabs. I just have house bricks lined up along the skirt run as a kind of barrier to stop it being kicked out. There are some great pictures I have seen others post of lawn edging etc used as a little border around the run sides. I'm sure people will kindly post some pics for you soon. My solution is not very pretty. Mine doesn't get waterlogged on slabs. Only if I put it on the awful spot of waterlogged lawn in my garden. You must keep a cover over the run to keep the Auboise dryish. I have an eglu which last year sported a Woolworths shower curtain held down with bungee cords. But this year I have upgraded after seeing ANH's fab pictures of plastic corrugated sheets which I have now purchased from Wickes and held down with bungee cords. If you are getting a cube, I'm sure there are lots of pictures in the gallery which might be inspiring in terms of set up and covering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevie Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 I only have two hens who freerange the entire garden 24/7 and my lawn is holding up quite well considering! Its not a vast space (approx 30ft x 20ft) with plenty of borders for them to dig and the grass is still pretty good considering its now dormant. It comes down to number of hens and amount of space they're allowed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia7455 Posted November 16, 2008 Author Share Posted November 16, 2008 Thank you very much for all of your replies, it's so nice to get some tips from people who have had experience. I have also been thinking about the issue about cats, as Spike said re clipping the chickens' wings. We have got two old cats who don't do much hunting these days but they could still give the chickens a fright, particularly when the birds are still young. My neighbour has also got a ginger neutered male cat, who likes going after the wood pigeons and he has sometimes got one by leaping into the air and grabbing it. They can be so slow with the take-off. I would have to be careful that he wasn't around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scramble Posted November 16, 2008 Share Posted November 16, 2008 I've been just putting them on the grass but now it's winter and the grass doesn't grow and the gardens's become a swamp So we're going to put some bark chippings down for them -Aaron, your pics are great and the little pekins are so cute! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
