Seeds to Sow

[JonathanHeno]

Hello, I have a question about sowing seed in my yard. I would like to surface sow some grass seed all throughout my yard that my chickens and white embden geese will be able to graze and peck at. I'm not sure which types would be best surface sown and how to keep my chickens from eating the seed off the ground. Any info is appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Mrs. K]

Fence them off. If you put it out there, they will eat it. Unless they cannot reach it.

Chickens really do not graze, they scratch and dig. They tend to dig up all living plants in a chicken run. If you let them out on a well established lawn for a very limited amount of time with days in-between - well then it will appear that they graze.

But if they have daily exposure to even a well established lawn in short order it will be bare ground.

Mrs K

 

[JonathanHeno]

Thank you Mrs. K! We have an acre That they have free access to but we are fencing off half of the acre and giving them half so I was wanting there to be more grass in some less grassy spots that we have.

Fence them off. If you put it out there, they will eat it. Unless they cannot reach it.

Chickens really do not graze, they scratch and dig. They tend to dig up all living plants in a chicken run. If you let them out on a well established lawn for a very limited amount of time with days in-between - well then it will appear that they graze.

But if they have daily exposure to even a well established lawn in short order it will be bare ground.

Mrs K

 

[Acre4Me]

They would appreciate shallow dust baths and shade. You can accomplish this with things/ like an old picnic table in a bare spot, now you won’t see the bare spot and the chickens have shady dust baths!

 

[Happy hen lover]

Thank you Mrs. K! We have an acre That they have free access to but we are fencing off half of the acre and giving them half so I was wanting there to be more grass in some less grassy spots that we have.

They love rye and wheat grass! It is easy to grow cheap , good cover, downside is it's all only an annual grass. Just a thought.

 

[Vata Raven]

Chickens really do not graze, they scratch and dig. They tend to dig up all living plants in a chicken run. If you let them out on a well established lawn for a very limited amount of time with days in-between - well then it will appear that they graze.

I let mine free range, and they don't bother with the grass and stuff too much.

In fact, if there are clover flower buds, they'll eat the flower head and leave the rest alone. I do see them uproot tender greens, which I think is also clover.

But recently, they've ignored all the green stuff in favor of the pile of leaves, pine needles, and tree branches.

 

[Mrs. K]

I think that there might be quite a difference in the effect of chickens on established plants and newly planted stuff.

And I think a lot depends on how many chickens you have, and how big of area they are kept on and how long each day they are exposed to the area.

I should not have said that they don't graze - they do. But what really causes the damage is the scratching and digging.

Mrs K