Do chickens destroy your lawn?

[slipperandpjsmum]

I thought that they did but my sister as just got a couple and her lawn is fine (early days). She has a very large veg plot and I wondered if they are spending most of their time in there?

Yes. As soon as it gets damp they will scratch it up. Mine have taken out huge lumps from mine and are now confined to a nice freerqnging area with time out for good behaviour.

depends how many chickens and how large your lawn is.

Neighbours had 8 chooks and largish expanse of earth.

Our 3-4 have decimated the grass in their run.
when neighbout had about 4, her lawn was sort of OK, but not lush and green that's for sure.

A nice patch of mud already in place for them to scratch and bathe in might be helping....

i had 5 chickens and they ate all my lawn and i was very displeased it cost me £25.00 because they dug a big hole all the way to australia. the children then climbed down this hole and i now havent seen them for 3 weeks! can anyone help me to track them? i'm far too afraid to go down the hole! i have just won £161 million on the lottery so we have been too preoccupied to track the children at this current time. where are they? and do NOT buy any poultry!

mine dug holes over the winter and I got pissed off and built them a permanent run on woodchip which they are only allowed out of sometimes.

BUT the holes have now mended themselves and my lawn has never been better, thanks to all the fertilising and pulling up of moss they have done.

I suggest you drink such vast quantities of champagne that you fall to the floor comatose and brain damaged. After that you won't need to worry about your kids, you'll be lucky if you remember them. They'll be lucky if you don't. Much better way of life in Oz anyway.

they do destroy your lawn, yup yup yup!

what we used to do (at my old house) was cordon off anything they weren't allowed to eat/destroy. - chicken wire is fine for this purpose.

and then let them into the veg patch ater harvest to turn over the soil and feed it with their poo!

Yes.
I have an ex-lawn.

I hear that some breeds are less inclined than others to do this (hopes as I just bought 4 bantams)

ah now mine don't, my lawn is fine. I have 4 bantams.
They have a dig around in the borders, and mine too are sods for nicking out of my veg/fruit garden especially strawberries! , all I really need to watch is seedlings, established plants are fine, but nothing a bit of chicken mesh and a few bamboo poles won't sort for a time.
It all depends on numbers you have I think, and the size of garden, my sister has 12 and a smallish garden and they do make a mess at hers.
Ducks - now the really do mess up your lawn!

don't talk to me about strawberries!

we hada whole border with strawberries in, and i had put some runners into pots in the winter to propagate - all fine till the chickens got range of them - now i have one sorry looking strawberry plant (with chicken wire round it)
:(

chicken wire everywhere next summer.