While having a chicken coop is an excellent source of eggs, too many chickens can spell doom for your lawn.
Because of this, you’ll need to know how to prevent them from doing so.
Keep reading to find out how to keep your garden and grass safe from chicken infestations.
Do Chicken Eat Grass Seed?
Yes Free chickens do tend to eat grass seeds. Bur remember, Only organic grass seeds should be included in their diet. Since they like to eat grass seeds, this can become a potential problem if you’re growing a lawn.
That’s why you need to keep the chickens out of your lawn. If left unattended, they will eat all of the grass seeds. As a result, your plants won’t grow, and your flowers will get damaged by their activity.
But if you are trying to raise a flock of chickens, grass can be a great feed for them. Give them enough grass to ensure that they are growing correctly, but not too much where the aesthetic value of your lawn is ruined.
Are Grass Seeds Safe For Chicken To Eat?
For the most part, yes grass seeds are safe for your chickens to eat. They are a great nutritional source as they can keep your chickens healthy.
However, some grass seeds have toxic chemicals inside them. The grass seeds you buy at your local Home Depot or other department stores are not edible for chickens.
If you have toxic grass seeds, it’s best to keep your chickens away from the grass until it grows back fully. Suppose you will include grass seeds in your chicken’s diet or make a new lawn that’s accessible to them. Either way, make sure that the grass seeds are clean and free from chemicals.
Fertilizer is another hazardous substance that could harm your chickens. If you’re going to use synthetic fertilizer, use it in an area where your chickens cannot have access to it.
However, the best option is just to use organic fertilizers.
What Grass Seeds Can Chickens Eat?
Chickens can eat practically any grass seed they come across. They are not picky eaters, and chickens roam the grass and hunt for bugs. You’ll have to exclude them from the area before they scratch or eat your seeds.
Unless the grass is fully established, chickens will remove the tops of the grass until it dies. The grass seeds are great for most bird species, and if the chickens don’t eat them, they can damage your lawn by sitting in the raked soil. Because of this, allow the grass to grow for 3-4 weeks then you can allow the chickens to re enter it.
As we previously stated, chickens should not eat toxic grass seeds. These are store-bought grass seeds that are inorganic most of the time. When in doubt, always feed your chickens organic grass to prevent any injuries in the long run.
What Grasses Can Chickens Eat?
Chickens tend to eat tender grass that their beaks can easily tear into. However, you should not give your chickens dry, tough stalks because they will get stuck in their throat.
You can give your chickens wheat and rye because it is easy for them to digest. Both types of grass are a great choice as long as it’s growing and green. When the chickens feast upon the grass, it will provide minimal resistance as the chicken tears it into pieces,
Alternatively, the chickens like eating lawn clippings. However, they might not eat all of them and prefer to search for bugs found near the lawnmower. Having a few lawn clippings is an excellent source of entertainment for your chickens because they like kicking things around.
Do Chickens Prefer Grass or Dirt?
Chickens like both! For optimal results, you should have a lawn with a combination of grass and dirt. That way, your chickens will have enough space to roam through the terrain and scratch through.
If you have a patch of grass in your yard, you’ll notice that insects and worms are attracted to it. This is great for chickens as they tend to eat them regularly. Also, the loose soil attracts insects as well. Thus, chickens prefer grass due to the food that lies around it.
However, the biggest downside is that your chickens will destroy the grass over time. Once the grass is fully destroyed, the chickens will have to relocate to a new area and replant the old one.
When it comes to dirt, chickens love it as well. It’s a low-maintenance alternative compared to chicken coops and is a great source of worms and grubs. If you’re adding dirt, make sure it’s enough space for your chickens to make a sand bath.
Just like grass, dirt has its fair share of drawbacks. If the sun’s rays are too intense, it can compact the soil. This makes it difficult for chickens to reach and dig into the soil. Once it rains, the dirt will turn into mud, which isn’t a good place for your chickens to be in.
Will Chickens Keep Grass Down?
Yes, chickens will keep your grass down. That’s because they will graze the grass and eat it throughout the day. Even if you let the grass regrow, the chickens will find a way to feed upon it.
The only way to counter this behavior is to place them in another area. You can create a chicken-friendly area where they can eat grass freely. Just remember to help the grass grow, or else they will take it.
Will Chickens Destroy My Lawn?
Yes, your chickens will destroy your lawn. If too many chickens are on your lawn, their poop will cause damage to your lawn.
Most of the backyard flock keepers wonder how the chickens will damage their lawn. If you have an established lawn, the chickens should not cause too much damage if you give them time to rest.
If it’s the winter season, it’s best to put the chickens in a coop where they can have shelter. By doing so, you’ll have fresh eggs during the spring. While your chickens might destroy your lawn, they also help by reducing the insect population that roams in it.
Here are the most common terrain problems for chickens
- Extremely wet ground: Chickens like to turn the wet ground into a mud bathing area.
- Clay soil: The clay soil becomes compacted, and the water is unable to drain. This leads to less growth over time.
- Extremely dry ground: The grass cannot grow back in dry conditions.
- Ground with no rest: On average, you have to give the ground at least nine months of rest after chickens are infested.
The chances of chickens killing your lawn depends on how long they can roam free in your garden, how many chickens are in the same location, and the area of your yard. The chickens will eat grass and search for bugs.
If you love the grass in your backyard, then you can take steps to protect it from another chicken outbreak. Keep the chickens off the grass because they will destroy your lawn if the opportunity arises.
Here are some other factors you have to consider when chickens are on your lawn
Chicken Quantity
The more chickens on your lawn, the higher the chance they’ll destroy your grass. They will eat the grass before it regrows, making it difficult to protect your lawn from them.
Also, chicken poop can be harmful to grass. It has high nitrogen content, which gets more severe the more chickens that are on your lawn. This means that if there are more chickens in your garden, there’s more chicken poop you’ll have to deal with.
Lawn Area
If your chickens have access to an area of your lawn, they will continue to eat and scratch. As a result, this can increase the rate your lawn is destroyed.
Again, chicken poop is a factor in this. As a rule of thumb, the smaller your lawn area, the more chickens will be able to damage it over time.
Type of Grass
If you plant grass with a slow growth rate, the chickens are more likely to destroy it. Grasses such as ryegrass are more durable, making them last longer against a chicken infestation.
How Do You Stop Chickens From Eating Grass Seed?
Are your chickens still causing a problem on your grass? Here are some ways to get them out of your lawn:
Grass Selection
To prevent chickens from getting on your lawn, choose the type of grass that’s suited for their activity. Ryegrass is an excellent option because it can withstand the chicken’s scratching feet.
Alternatively, you could use fescue grass. There are multiple species of this grass, but it’s a great grass because it regrows actively.
Chicken to Area Ratio
Your chickens will destroy grass quickly if it has a small area. Having fewer chickens over a large lawn area reduces the time it needs to be replaced and the amount of damage they can cause.
The chicken poop will be spread through a larger area. By doing this, their poop will act as lawn fertilizer without harming the grass.
Add a Fence
If you have a large area to divide your backyard, you can place your fence in an area that’s dedicated to the chickens. This is possible if your house has a front yard vegetable garden or an unused side yard.
Select a space with shrubs and trees to ensure your chickens can reside in the coop. A large grass space reduces vegetation and grass damage because it’s constantly moving.
If the chickens are excessively scratching in your garden, you can use wood chips or straw on the ground. By doing this, you can protect your yard’s microbe environment.
The best method is to create a fence to keep the chickens away from your garden. Also, it allows the chickens to roam and graze around your yard.
Fencing comes in different styles, but you don’t want your fences to have gaps. Larger chickens are faster and fly over 3-4 feet over fences. You can either build a large fence cover or clip their wings to prevent that from happening.
Best Grass Seed Mix for Chickens
The best grass seed mix for chickens is KY Bluegrass. It is naturally grown in Missouri, Virginia, and Kentucky. This mix is durable enough to handle chickens and can regrow faster.
If you’re going to apply grass seed mix, you should use materials such as straw, wood chips, soil, and grass. Organic materials decompose faster, and sand is a good option because of its durability. Whatever grass seed mix you choose, make sure that it allows your chickens to dig and scratch.
Conclusion
To conclude, we believe that you should protect your lawn or garden from chickens. By keeping them in an enclosed area, getting durable grass (i.e., ryegrass), and monitoring it regularly, you can protect your grass seeds while enjoying chicken eggs now and then.
F.A.Q
Can Chickens Eat Too Much Grass
Yes, chickens will eat all of the grass on your lawn. They find grass a great place to eat bugs and graze on grass. Because of this, it’s up to you to protect your grass by either moving the chickens somewhere else or regrowing the grass altogether.
Do Chickens Eat Grass Clippings?
Yes. Chickens will eat grass clippings because it suits their diet. When chickens eat grass, they remove the tip of the grass blade and eat smaller pieces over time.
Will Chickens Eat Grass Fertilizer?
On some occasions, chickens will eat grass fertilizer. However, since most fertilizer products are toxic, they can be dangerous to eat. Because of this, it’s best to relocate your chickens to an area where no fertilizer is sprayed on the grass. Placing a multitude of lawn clippings will get the chickens full faster.
Is Grass Good For Chicken Coops?
Grass is great for chicken coops as it allows hens to grow. The chickens in the coop can go outside and graze on grass, giving them their food for the day. So always keep that in mind when creating your own chicken coop.
