Kitchen Garden Forum

Hi all

I'm doing my research for the great chicken plan for the spring.

What I need to know from others is are chickens best on grass or on bark chippings. This is for the run and for them to scratch about in.

I was wondering if it would be worthwhile moving the ark around every few months so that new grass has time to grow, or if I should use bark chippings that would be changed every 12 months?

What do others think? Opinions desperately needed.

Ta......

Grass is essential for good yolk colour.
It's inconvenient because it doesn't last long with hens scratching and eating it!
If you have the space, do try moving the run (though "every few months" is a bit optimistic).
If not, hens will enjoy a regular load of grass clippings (NOT from a treated lawn, though).

Dear Lizzie, i'm not hugely knowledgeable on chickens, but one thing i do know is if they are to be kept on grass, they need a very large area.
If they are just in an ark they will clear the grass within about a week, so the ark will need to be constantly moved.

Maybe i know a little more than i first thought.

When I had them I tried a split run, but the grass never would grow back.

I also fed them lawn mowings, which they loved for a few hours.

I used to end up with (working upwards) soil, slimed & trodden soil, a felt layer of rotting lawn mowings, a final layer of shit/slime/mud.

However, put the Merry Tiller through it and let the chickens on, oh what feathered mayhem and delight, chase that worm, dig that hole........

Nowadays I would try and cultivate a tree surgeon to get supplies of wood chip, feed them small amounts of grass clippings and recycle the upper layers of the run into the compost bins.

I think a lot depends on the variety of chickens. I had Warrens, hybrid egg machines, who could turn my lawn into a rotovated border in a matter of hours (when they escaped from their run). On the other hand, I had a pair of Jungle Fowl and now have Rocky & Selsey (Sussex) who have the run of the garden and they've never done more than peck the tops off the blades of grass. They love eating the grass but just don't dig it over.

Mine destroyed their grass in a matter of weeks so now they have their run paved over, with a small area left free for them to make a dustbath.

The paved area is covered with a layer of straw so that they can scratch around and the straw is raked out weekly, the paving slabs cleaned and hosed down, and fresh straw put back in. Easy peasy. No smells or muck or mud. Stops worm build-up.

The dustbath area is occasionally topped up with bonfire ash (wood) or sand.

Thanks for the tips everyone......even more for me and Grock to think about.

I have mooted with her about having an enclosure a bit like a fruit cage. We could have a larger ark to accommodate our chickens and then move them from one plot to the other. As out plots are next door to each other i'm hoping they wouldn't get stressed.

We're just trying to make the right decisions before we get any chucks....it's easier that way I think.

Lizzie

Sounds like what you need is a chicken tractor

alan refail wrote:Lizzie

Sounds like what you need is a chicken tractor

How American of you Alan.
The English is an Ark.
I'm sure you'll tell us the Welsh?

I have a turkey ark...Turkeys love grass. And they kill it off.
Not as bad as chickens.. BUT...

Do not use bark chippings as recent studies show that they can be fatally poisionous to chickens.

A good grass area is essential under Freedom Foods guidelines, even though it is very difficult to keep up with the seeding, to keep it up to scratch (no pun intended).

If you feed mixrd corn along with your concentrate a % will seed, but grass seed is not that exspensive and it is worth it for happy healthy chickens. The trick is to rotate the run.

It is very difficult to keep a grassed area at this time of year, if the ground is wet, but depends on your ground. If it is very wet underneath use straw preferably or woodshavings in heavy traffic areas.

Hope this helps?

My dad was a poultry farmer and had over a thousand of the loveliest free range birds you would ever see.(Mostly Light Susses and Rhode Island Reds). He placed each chicken house in the centre of the run, which were the same width as the houses, with 'pop holes' front and back. Thus he could let the birds out either one side or the other, changing over every couple of months to allow the grass to recover.
John N

Hi Rarebredchick,
Your quote.
"Do not use bark chippings as recent studies show that they can be fatally poisonous to chickens."

Did your study, re; Bark Chippings, give any further details as to why it the chippings are poisonous?
I merely ask as a matter of pure interest.
Sincerely,
JB.

I keep Silkies and Guinea fowl and we chicken keepers are told to use wood chip as opposed to bark chip as it has a tendency to get mouldy and therfore not good for the chooks, I get my wood chip direct from the wood yard at a huge saving !

Thanks to everyone for their replies. It's certainly given us something to think about. I felt it was best to get accurate information before we started buliding.

As it turns out, i've now decided not to keep them as I have a possible opportunity to do something fabulous in a few years time and it would mean me being away for a while.

Grockie is definitely keeping them so it's all to the good.

Thanks again peeps........a person can always rely on this forum for good advice