Magnumchicken
Chirping
- Mar 9, 2021
- 70
- 163
- 81
Just want to tell my story. Started when I noticed my chickens preferring the clover in my lawn. So I planted a patch of alfalfa and they destroyed it in days. The results were yolks the color of an orange.
So I researched converting much of my lawn into alfalfa forage.
Planting alfalfa: I'm in zone 7a.
First test your ph. Needs to be above 6.5 and better at 7. Use calcitic lime and till it in if too low. Till in chicken manure, as it is the #1 fertilizer for alfalfa. I just used fresh manure, works better than fermented in my experience.
The seed I used is roundup ready because chickens will eat all the alfalfa leaving only weeds. I'm not about to weed 2000 sf each week. You MUST get a grazing alfalfa, not a hay alfalfa because it's growing points are below ground and chickens dig at the roots all day. I plant alfalfa in April to early September just before there are 3 days of rain and highs in 70s or low 80s. Seeding rate of 25lbs per acre. I use innoculated and treated seed. Let them get knee high first before turning the chickens on them. I then rotate the chickens about 1 month on one area, then give it a one month break. Of course looking how beat up it gets, overgrown the next area is.
I also plant soybeans in April to June. In hot temps the alfalfa slows down and chickens destroy it. I then turn the chickens on the soybeans in late August to October to give alfalfa time to prepare for winter. They don't eat the pods or stems, just leaves. Once it freezes, I let the chickens eat the dying alfalfa tops. But next Spring give the alfalfa time to come up again before grazing.
I have about 150 SQ ft of alfalfa per chicken and another 50 sqft of soybean. This reduces my food bill more than 50% for 9 months a year. The egg quality is outstanding. I also recycle egg shells and whatever my kids didn't finish.
Alfalfa crops usually live up to 5 years. Mine is 2-3 years now and is starting to look a little rough due to plants being scratched up. So next year I'll convert that area to veggie garden and switch the veggie garden to alfalfa. My yard is fenced off in 4 quadrants. 2 veggie garden 2 chicken run, and I also turn the chickens on the veggie garden September once harvest drops off until next April planting. I don't need any fertilizer doing this rotation. Both the alfalfa and chicken poop add nitrogen etc. I give eggs to a friend who asked for some chicken poop too. I said hey the poop is worth more at these fertilizer prices.
Some of chickens favorite foods are garden pests. Wire worms, corn root worms, alfalfa weevil, grasshoppers etc etc. This rotation helps me keep pests down.
I spot spray roundup just after I move chickens to a different area and have not pulled a weed once in 2 years in the alfalfa.
Now, if my chickens aren't allowed in alfalfa or soybean they complain all day long. The leaves of both are about 30% dry matter protein, and chickens being omnivores do better with more protein. Chickens don't get bloat. They eat leaves only and don't touch stems, soybean pods etc Each chicken spends 4 hours a day eating it.
So I researched converting much of my lawn into alfalfa forage.
Planting alfalfa: I'm in zone 7a.
First test your ph. Needs to be above 6.5 and better at 7. Use calcitic lime and till it in if too low. Till in chicken manure, as it is the #1 fertilizer for alfalfa. I just used fresh manure, works better than fermented in my experience.
The seed I used is roundup ready because chickens will eat all the alfalfa leaving only weeds. I'm not about to weed 2000 sf each week. You MUST get a grazing alfalfa, not a hay alfalfa because it's growing points are below ground and chickens dig at the roots all day. I plant alfalfa in April to early September just before there are 3 days of rain and highs in 70s or low 80s. Seeding rate of 25lbs per acre. I use innoculated and treated seed. Let them get knee high first before turning the chickens on them. I then rotate the chickens about 1 month on one area, then give it a one month break. Of course looking how beat up it gets, overgrown the next area is.
I also plant soybeans in April to June. In hot temps the alfalfa slows down and chickens destroy it. I then turn the chickens on the soybeans in late August to October to give alfalfa time to prepare for winter. They don't eat the pods or stems, just leaves. Once it freezes, I let the chickens eat the dying alfalfa tops. But next Spring give the alfalfa time to come up again before grazing.
I have about 150 SQ ft of alfalfa per chicken and another 50 sqft of soybean. This reduces my food bill more than 50% for 9 months a year. The egg quality is outstanding. I also recycle egg shells and whatever my kids didn't finish.
Alfalfa crops usually live up to 5 years. Mine is 2-3 years now and is starting to look a little rough due to plants being scratched up. So next year I'll convert that area to veggie garden and switch the veggie garden to alfalfa. My yard is fenced off in 4 quadrants. 2 veggie garden 2 chicken run, and I also turn the chickens on the veggie garden September once harvest drops off until next April planting. I don't need any fertilizer doing this rotation. Both the alfalfa and chicken poop add nitrogen etc. I give eggs to a friend who asked for some chicken poop too. I said hey the poop is worth more at these fertilizer prices.
Some of chickens favorite foods are garden pests. Wire worms, corn root worms, alfalfa weevil, grasshoppers etc etc. This rotation helps me keep pests down.
I spot spray roundup just after I move chickens to a different area and have not pulled a weed once in 2 years in the alfalfa.
Now, if my chickens aren't allowed in alfalfa or soybean they complain all day long. The leaves of both are about 30% dry matter protein, and chickens being omnivores do better with more protein. Chickens don't get bloat. They eat leaves only and don't touch stems, soybean pods etc Each chicken spends 4 hours a day eating it.
