You can offer your lawn clippings sparingly but they soon go rancid so make sure any that are left are cleared away. There are many people here who use a deep litter system in their runs and I'm sure they will offer help there. If you don't have anything on the runs floor the ground will become hen sick and poisoned and generally be a mud bath now the winter is coming. Yes the yolks will be pale if you don't offer green food. Either ask you local green grocer for their 'trimmings' or buy a couple of cabbages a week and hang them in the run. The hens will spend a great deal of time pecking at the cabbages, it's fun to watch and will give your birds something to 'do' rather than get bolshy with each other.I'm quite convinced that a large proportion of feather pecking problems can be attributed to boredom. Prevention is much easier than cure. Make sure all discarded food (layers pellets, uneaten greens etc) are cleaned up regularly or you will be opening the restaurant doors to rats, mice, disease and universal unpopularity with your neighbours! As I'm fortunate enough to keep my hens free range on grass they don't suffer from the problems that being confined can cause. Make life in the run as interesting as possible for your hens. Some people hang up old CDs that revolve and move in the wind, others put perches in the runs and buckets to hide in, a wedge of wood to play King of the Castle on etc. Think like a zoo keeper you are wanting to enrich their environment a much as possible and it's easy enough to do. You will then be repaid with happy healthy garden hens who reward your efforts with the most wonderful eggs. Happy hen keeping.
