Owning chickens in your own backyard’s grass can be fantastic. Literally an unlimited supply of eggs on your own doorstep, and you don’t have to worry about trying to guess where the chickens were housed if they were free-range farm range or any of those questions.
Chickens require minimal space in your backyard, and building a coop to house them is usually pretty easy. One of the only drawbacks is when they exit the coup to come out to get their exercise and to play they can scratch around leaving a bit of a mess (hence the saying “your writing looks like a chicken scratch”). But there is a solution!
Durability
With all the advancements in the durability of synthetic lawn, it provides the ideal grounding for a chicken coup, and also have a few extra benefits that you may not have thought of. Without synthetic grass flooring, the naturally occurring grass fibers which may have existed will soon become uprooted from chickens pecking and scratching at the ground. Then all you’ll be left with is a hard patch of dirt, or if it rains possibly some muddy puddles. This is the ideal reason where artificial grass can not only keep your yard intact but also keep your chickens and eggs easier to get to as well as possibly a little cleaner. It also will keep them safe from animals who might try to burrow into the enclosure looking for a meal, such as wild cats and foxes.
The chickens will thank you! It’s not a commonly known fact but chickens actually commonly grow a bond with their owners and can be pleased to see you whenever you enter their coup. The fibers of synthetic grass feel great to chickens, and you will likely find that with a nice artificial grass surface underfoot, especially one with a longer pile, they will be happier and healthier. It will make them feel like they are walking on clouds, which for flightless birds will be quite a feat!
Maintenance
Maintenance is a sinch with artificial grass! While chickens tend to scratch and pull out natural grass with their claws, they might still miss the occasional strand, or weeds could possibly grow. To address these issues you would need to remove all the chickens before you can do any weeding or trimming. With synthetic grass, this would be a thing of the past. No more weeding, no pesticides, no mowing, edging, or watering, allowing you to focus purely on feeding your chickens. Of course, after your chickens have had a feed, nature is going to run its course and you’ll end up with chook poo. Cleaning artificial turf is a sinch, with a simple hose down of any excess debris and it’s as good as new.
In a nutshell
If there are any lingering smells there are some simple de-deodorizers that can easily be periodically added to your turf should the smell get out of control. Being smart when you design and build your chicken coup can really be beneficial here, as you need to consider how you can allow for this periodical cleaning, and where the chickens can stay when you run this maintenance. Features such as a hinged or removable If you find a way to capture the run-off you can even re-use the chook poo to fertilize your garden! There are plenty of other benefits about upgrading your garden to have synthetic grass that isn’t limited to just being beneficial to the chickens. It’s actually great for humans and all other types of pets including cats, dogs, other bird aviaries, guinea pigs, hamsters, snakes, and much, much more!
