6 Ways to Protect Your Lawn from Chickens

The Benefits

Chickens can make great pets and their digging and scratching can, in moderation, help keep the soil aerated.

They’re omnivorous and will eat grass – they prefer soft, green grasses – leaves, weeds, lawn clippings and pests such as flying insects, slugs and grubs, even unwary mice.

Chook manure is a free source of organic nutrient-rich fertiliser which can be composted for use in the fruit and vegetable garden.

The Disadvantages

Fresh manure has a high nitrogen content and can burn your lawn if it’s concentrated in a particular area.

Chicken poop also can contain germs that are harmful to children and other pets.

Chooks like to dig holes, especially in summer when they’re looking for a cool spot to rest. They also love a regular dust bath to help keep their feathers clean and free of mites, lice or other parasites.

Regardless of which came first – the chickens or the lawn – they can happily coexist with a little planning.

We recommend they not be brought straight onto newly-laid turf. It’s better to wait until the grass is fully established and less vulnerable to damage.

Here’s six more ways to protect your lawn:

Start Small

Think carefully about the size of your garden and be realistic about how many chickens it can support.

Hens are territorial, social creatures so it’s best to have more than one, but too many hens will likely destroy your lawn and might well put you offside with the neighbours as well.

Adult hens will each need 1-1.5 square metres of space inside a coop and a similar area in an exterior run. They should be locked up safely at night to avoid attacks from roaming cats, dogs or foxes.

Depending on where you live, many local councils limit the number of chickens that can be kept in urban areas and ban the keeping of roosters.

Stick to the rules and make sure you have the relevant permits, or you might face fines or even have your flock confiscated.

Avoid Waste Build-Up

The high nitrogen levels in chook manure cause the most damage to lawns, burning it if allowed to accumulate.

If you have a fixed pen, it’s pointless trying to keep grass alive inside it, but it will preserve the rest of your lawn from damage.

Allowing the flock to range freely will encourage them to spread their poop more evenly across the yard.

You could also collect large clumps and compost them for use on flower beds or in the vegie patch, or regularly use a hose to dilute the poop and wash it off the leaf blades before it burns.

Let Your Grass Grow

Short grass dries out faster, making it more susceptible to damage from digging and scratching as well as the high nitrogen levels in chook manure.

Longer grass is better protected and mulching lawn clippings instead of picking them up will make it easier for chickens to eat and scratch about without damaging the roots.

DIY Dust Bath

A cat litter tray or similar size box filled with coarse sand will help your hens get the dust bath they need without making a mess of your lawn or garden beds.

Fences

If chooks are making too much of a mess of your yard, garden beds or eating out the vegetable patch, fence off the areas you don’t want them to get into.

Temporary wire cages that can be popped over newly-planted areas and ripening fruit and vegetable plants will also help.

Or try laying weldmesh flat on the ground over bare patches of lawn to deter both chickens and dogs from digging there until it has recovered.

Use a Lawn Tractor

A lawn tractor is a portable pen with a wire base that you can move around the yard to give your chooks fresh grass each day.

The wire base stops them from digging up your lawn and moving it daily stops the manure from building up to toxic levels in one spot.

Many lawn chemicals can sicken or kill pets, including chickens.

Avoid spreading granular fertiliser where your chickens forage or make sure the granules are completely dissolved before letting them back onto those areas.

Always check product labels and observe the safety instructions, warnings and withholding periods.

If you’re not sure whether your lawn will stand up to the rigours of chickens, contact your local turf supplier or garden centre for advice.

To find the right grass type for your situation, use the myhomeTURF Find Your Turf tool.