[gailtearle]

hi could someone please advise me on how to regrow my grass , the chickens have the run of the bottom of the garden , it was lovely and green but they,ve eaten every bit of grass down there, can,t move them else where. any ideas anyone as to how i can get some grass back , they,ll just eat grass seed wont they ? 

[Helenaj]

I have the same problem and the only way to grow it back is either move them off it or fence part of it off and seed it. There is no other way unfortunately.

[nickgauntlett]

wouldn't bother replacing the grass as like you say they will just eat the seed and even if they some how miss the seeds (which they wont) they will eat the blade of grass that grows quicker than you know its grown, in my opinion i wouldn't replace the grass i would leave it and let them dig in the open ground, if it gets too muddy then id put wood chipping down

[Aunt Sally]

hi could someone please advise me on how to regrow my grass , the chickens have the run of the bottom of the garden , it was lovely and green but they,ve eaten every bit of grass down there, can,t move them else where. any ideas anyone as to how i can get some grass back , they,ll just eat grass seed wont they ? 

Hoiw many hens do you have and how big is the area they live in ?

[JaK]

I've seen (on here) some one grew grass in trays to put in the coop for them to peck through. Lovely idea.

[gracie]

I put some seed in a tray at the weekend for mine. A friend was turfing the other day and i got a load of that to put in. There were some builders turfing up the road today but a lorry blocked my way so I couldnt blag some, but they havent finished so i shall be up there with my best smile tomorrow, saying they could make some chicks very happy with some of their offcuts.
The turf from last week is almost ruined but i keep moving it about and they love the insects underneath.

[jinty1911]

I blagged a tree trunk off someone that I was delivering next door to.  He was more than happy to fling it in the back of the van.  Took it home and said "look what I have got for you girls!!!" and they have ignored it ever since. 

[Helenaj]

The best wood for treats for the girls would be wood that lain for a couple of years and started to rot - that will be full of insects and grubs and the wood is practically like cork it has rotted so much. Next time you get a chance to walk in the woods, take a bin liner with you and someone whose prepared to lug a heavy piece of wood back to the car! I usually find a suitable piece that's big enough to fit in the bin liner and tie it off so no crawlies get to escape (into your car!), open it in the hen compound and they are happy for hours on end scratching about. I then split it open in case there are any grubs they have missed.

[Jane-M]

This year I am going to establish a little "Balfour system" (see John Seymour's Self Sufficient Gardener book for full description). My chickens have grass NOvember to March as they have the run of the garden, but the rest of the year rely on what I chuck in for them So the Balfour system - separate the run into two parts primarily, one to be left soil into which you dump all your weeds and veggie bits for them to scratch about and make into compost. The other part I am dividing into two and turfing over. Once the grass is established the idea is that they will have access to one patch of grass for part of each day allowing the other to recover. It is hoped that they will have enough digging about in the ungrassed run to satisfy their instincts.

I'll let you know how it works out.   

[joyfull]

or you can have a coop set in the centre with 4 seperate runs - each week open a pop hole into a different run (you do need 4 pop holes of course  ) this gives the runs a few weeks to recover in between