Chickens in the garden work great for us. I haven't used them to shred sod, but if I had sod or hard ground to break up, I'd totally expect it to work.
Our legal medical marijuana garden is a thousand square feet, fenced on all sides plus netting on the top. Early each spring, I put a couple-three baby pigs in there, letting them churn it up for about a month. I scatter shell corn to encourage them to dig.
In mid-April I move the pigs out, and put as many as a dozen chickens in the space. They further redistribute the soil, evening out some of the larger pig trenches and eliminating any specks of green that sprout, as well as dispersing the pig manure.
By mid May the birds are out and the space rests for a couple weeks, then I plant in the first week of June.
There's no sign of the animals left. If I had way more chickens I might run into problems with uncomposted manure/nitrogen burning the plants, but I haven't had that problem thus far. Marijuana is a heavy feeder, and an altogether tough plant. Other plants might be more sensitive.
Chickens will de-nude a space of all plant and insect life, if given
enough time.