[liontamer]

Hi, I'm wondering if anyone can help me please? I have had 6 Banties since February this year in a run in my back garden. I have now let them go free range as the grass has been killed off every time i move the run (2 weeks each move) The grass is struggling to recover and I know its going to be a mudbath during the winter months. What do I do in the winter? Do i put straw down on my lawn or woodchip to absorb the wet and mud 

[kensington chicks]

Hi Liontamer,

Welcome to the forum.

If you go on the next page you will see a post headed Bedding and Run.  This gives lots of advice on what to put on the run floor.

Good luck KCx

[New shoot]

I use woodchip in my main fixed run and will do also in the moveable run I have over winter.

My moveable run is shifted weekly or even more often, before the chickens get to bare earth.  Too late for this year, but might help next spring & summer  

[Lindeggs]

Hello Liontamer, and welcome to the forum.

I'm not sure if I have understood your question correctly.  Are you wondering what to do about the area of lawn that has already been laid bare by the bantams?  Or are you worried about your whole lawn now that they are free-ranging?

In the area that is bare, you will need to fence it off if you're going to stop the bantams digging through the soil again.  Then if you want to return it to lawn you will need to re-seed the area and allow it to get very well established before the chickens have access to it agian as they will just adore the tender young grass!

If you're worried about the bantams ruining the rest of your lawn, I would suggest that you will need to keep them in their run for the winter and do as others have said: put down wood chips or other bedding on the floor of their run.

If you're going to try the run on grass again next time, you will need to move it much more often to stop them completely wrecking the lawn.  You may have to move it every day or every two days instead of every week.

Theoretically there could be some kind of equation taking into account:
Number of chickens
Digging habits of those chickens
Area of run space
How often the run is moved
Fragility of grass (type of grass, type of soil, rooting system, etc)

But that's all pretty complicated so all I can suggest is experiment with your system and work out how often you need to move the run to keep your lawn in good condition.