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[GGLGirls]

Now spring is approaching my OH and I are looking at the jobs to be done in the garden. One of which is the deteriorating lawn, not from our dear girls but from a mass of moss.

Can anyone recommend a safe product that will be safe for our chickens to still be able to FR?

Current setup is that they have a WIR, but are allowed to FR when we are at home to supervise.

Thanks in advance.

[Chook n Boo Mum]

My girls are extremely good at moss & weed removal & fertilize readily .....sorry not really what you wanted to hear, we never use treatments where the chooks FR.

 

Sha x

[Egluntyne]

We have the Green Thumb pople come to treat our lawns 4 times a year. The hens are kept off the grass for a week or so after treatments.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Odd, because I just started using Green Thumb last year and they said to keep them off the grass for an hour or two (not that they're getting anywhere near my grass in any case ).

[Stevie]

Most of the brands available are pet friendly so just check the back of box.

[Chucky Mama]

We haven't had moss in the lawn since we had the chickens. They are great at raking it up. We used to have someone come out to weed and feed but when I asked them if what they were using was safe for the chickens they said that they had someone else with chickens and that we should maybe keep them off for a short while. Basically he had no idea so we don't have them anymore as I felt that he was telling me what he thought I wanted to hear. Our lawn is in good shape without anything.

[Egluntyne]

Odd, because I just started using Green Thumb last year and they said to keep them off the grass for an hour or two (not that they're getting anywhere near my grass in any case ).

 

 

It was me that decided on the week safety margin. The chap had advice only for dogs and children.

 

Like you, I seldom let them on to the lawn anyway.

[GGLGirls]

Thanks all for the replies.

Looks like I'll have to put my girls to work, , I suspect they think they're too precious for scratching in the lawn and prefer the ease of throwing the soil from the borders all over it instead .

[theroth]

Appreciate the thoughts on "Greenthumb" etc.. Before the chickens I used to use Evergreen complete Lawncare and it was really good.

Now our concern is whatever feeds the grass, kills the moss and the weeds, would end up in the grass stems and be eaten by the chickens anyway. Ours do like grass. It seems like excluding them for a few weeks might not prevent them absorbing the chemicals if they are in the grass?

Would they confuse a granular lawn tratment with grain and eat it direct?

 

After some research I think weedkilling treatments are out. Most contain MCP (see http://www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_Chemical.jsp?Rec_Id=PC32901) and it doesn't sound a good idea.

 

That leaves mosskilling and lawn feed: Anyone got opinion or experience of "organic" products for lawn care?

[wiganchooks]

Re Green Thumb

 

I just came on here to search for this very topic as

I've just had my lawn treated (having not had anything on it for a year, but after a winter of chicken scratching I felt it needed a boost...)

 

Their literature says it's ok for even rabbits to go back on it after a couple of hours, however the feed and weed is in the form of tiny pellets, now all over my lawn, which would look very tempting I guess to hens.

 

Mine are now staying in their run until the pellets dissolve. Am hoping for more rain!!

Or has anybody let hens onto green thumb treated pellety areas without incident?

[Snowy]

Just a word of caution about anything being 'pet friendly'. Just because it won't harm your chickens, doesn't mean that nothing will get through to the eggs! And if it does, it will be you eating it