emmalou Posted September 9, 2016 Share Posted September 9, 2016 Can I help with my chickens grazing? They have a large fixed run but after even 6 weeks they had eaten everything in it, so no grass etc now. I am concerned ey are not able to forage enough. I domput cabbage in and they have their feed and they also freerange for 3 or 4 hours a day. Is this sufficient? Do they still manage to forage on bare ground? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjp Posted September 9, 2016 Share Posted September 9, 2016 they'll find something on there as a treat which is all they really need as they should be getting all of their food needs from the layers ration. I'm sitting here watching a few of my mob happily digging pot holes looking for worms and grubs right next to 3 or 4 wind fall apples but I think they've got bored of apples there's been that many fall of the trees this last 3 or 4 weeks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emmalou Posted September 9, 2016 Author Share Posted September 9, 2016 Ahh lovely. They sound completely freerange? Ours are onky for 3 or 4 hrs a day. We have intense heat jere in France and the risk of buzzards so let them out until the sun comes around and then close them in until around 5ish. They then have the run of the garden until 8pm. The ground in their coop is very dry and do wayer ot to encourage insects but we have not had rain for weeks so am keen to ensure they are finding enough to keep them fed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted September 9, 2016 Share Posted September 9, 2016 They don't need insects or greens. They need chicken food. Anything else is just a bonus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjp Posted September 10, 2016 Share Posted September 10, 2016 mine only FR when I'm home but they have full access to the garden when their out they would normally be getting courgettes at the weekends by now but most of my squash type plants got done by slugs and snails this year and the only courgette plant has only put up male flowers. some will get a few carrot tops later on today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted September 10, 2016 Share Posted September 10, 2016 They will be fine, you are giving them a good amount of FR time in which to forage, and in any case right now there isn't much goodness in the grass, if any of it is still green! You can throw in some greens to the run if you want, but really a good quality feed and plenty of water is what they need. You might like to provide a dust bath in the run, and it sounds as though they need plenty of shade. I know many chicken runs here in Portugal are bare earth, sometimes with a layer of bracken or heather that is used for bedding and which seems to find its way into the run as well which is good for scratching purposes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emmalou Posted September 11, 2016 Author Share Posted September 11, 2016 Thanks Daphne. I had to laugh as we have not had rain for weeks as we are in France. The grass is dry and crispy to walk on so yes definately not much goodness. We are blessed with a plague of butterflies this year which the chickens love and will keep them happy for the Summer months at least. Sounds like you would know about dry spells too. We have no problems with dustbaths either atm. I am hosing aome of the run down every day and keeping some dry. I am giving them cabbage each morning so they should be fine on greens. thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
