Chicken owners may be looking at neighbouring properties with envy. While you get to receive fresh eggs every day, your neighbours have mastered their lawn care and have a beautiful lush lawn to show for it.
Is there a way you can have both chickens and a beautiful grassy area to enjoy? Actually, yes. But it can take a few changes to your current setup.
Fence Off An Area
Many people decide to purchase chickens so they can enjoy fresh, free-range eggs daily. Fencing your chickens in can seem counter-intuitive. In saying that, you don’t have to keep them confined to their coop. Consider sectioning off your property so that you both have a grassy area to enjoy.
Create a Large Coop
If you have the room to create a large chicken coop, then it can be equally as stimulating for your chickens as having the run of your property.
A large coop with a dust bath, grass, and room to move around and dig and scratch can be all you need to provide the best environment for your chooks. You can then not only focus on lawn care, but have the convenience of knowing where to find your daily eggs.
Let Them Run Free
If you enjoy having a healthy lawn, even if it doesn’t look the best, then having a few chickens roaming free on your property isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Chickens eat leaves, weeds, grass clippings, and bugs. These are all things that can affect the aesthetics of your lawn. As a side benefit, their tiny toes and claws aerate the soil.
If you notice bare patches on your lawn that you want to bring back to health, you can put netting in these areas to give them a chance to regenerate. Proactivity is the key to balancing a healthy lawn and happy chickens.
Use a Chicken Mower
A chicken mower, or lawn tractor, is a movable pen that offers plenty of room for your chickens but isn’t permanent. You can move it around your lawn, with your chickens safely inside, while making sure they don’t damage your lawn beyond repair.
These handy devices are available for purchase, but you can also build them yourself with a handle and wheels. The best part is, the sky’s the limit with sizing. Remember, the more space you give your chickens, the happier they can be.
Create a Dust Bath
One of the most common problems that chicken owners face is their lawn being demolished for dust baths. You may be able to reduce the risk of this happening by creating sand and dirt boxes for your chickens. With them pre-made, they will have less of a reason to make them themselves.
Your lawns may not be perfect with chickens, but they can be a lot better with a few small changes to how you keep them. Consider fencing them off from your usable lawn areas, and create a large coop that keeps them in one spot. Healthy lawns, happy chickens; everyone wins.
