Planting in the chicken yard

[dutchlion]

Since we're new to the backyard chicken life (but LOVING IT!!!!), I have a few questions regarding the chicken yard....(our coop (64sq ft) is being build inside a 100sq ft+ fenced yard for our 15 chickens.)

The yard is raked and ready for grass seed... any suggestions on types of grass to plant in the yard for the chickens? any that we should stay away from?

Are there any trees/shrubs/flowers that are toxic to chickens (i.e. black walnut trees and red maples are very harmful to horses)? i think there is a forsythia in their yard already......

Any basics that we should know before we start planting?

Thanks!

 

[Kikiriki]

The important thing with grass and other plants is that drought will make them toxic. You have to have a watering plan to deal with that.

Also, you won't actually have a nice level lawn for very long. Chickens will dig and make ankle breaking holes all over the place, and they will uproot the grass, and defoliate any plant that tastes good. I ended up having to fence off sections of the yard and rotate the girls through those...the problem with that is It leaves them locked away from their nest box, which is affixed in their run. If I had known how attached they get to that box, I would have trained them to a portable box that could go with them, and made it lighter, with legs, and more rain proof.

I made the chicken sections around the edges of the back yard, leaving myself a small area of lawn to enjoy, where I could walk without stepping in a hole or chicken poo!

The areas each have shrubs for shade and hiding. Areca plam is not toxic, and it makes a lovely hiding place. There are varieties of hibiscus that are nontoxic. Hawiian Thai (pronouned tee) is very pretty and non toxic. It will grow back from the roots if damaged in a freeze, or it can be kept in a pot as a house plant that you can take out for the warm months. I have one mulberry tree in a pot to keep it from causing root problems, and a weeping mulberry out in the ground, because it is a smaller growing variety. The leaves are not toxic, and the fruit fall will be a bonus for them. Loquat is another tree that you can keep trimmed low, though it will try to grow large if you let it get away from you. The leaves and fruit are both fine.

The list of bad plants is really long, so it would be better if you identify what you have and research them.

I bought portable fence and posts and that was a mistake because it is too short. I clipped their flight feathers, but my clever little escape artist will find any gap between the fence and the ground to slip out and go wreak destruction. I wish now that I had invested in a better fencing product.

Good old sweet potato (not the ornamental type) makes a lovely spreading vine with edible leaves, and the bonus of free sweet potatoes for your family. Collards are attractive and have edible leaves. The leaves also grow large enough to create shade. If you put them into pots, you can move them around so the chcikens won't comletely defoliate them. My collards and sweet potatoes survived through frost and temps down in the low 30's.

Leaf fall is awesome because bugs and worms are attracted to the habitat the leaves make. I never rake away my dead leaves, but keep them in shady spots and the chickens love to go forage there. Again, having rotating areas for the chickens is nice because it allows the insect population to recover for a free source of protein. Also, the chickens help break down the leaves and fertilize via poo.

I hope this gave you some food for thought and chickens!

 

[realsis]

Hi and welcome! I found a wonderful omega 3 chicken forage blend from Peaceful Vally online.its about 3.99 for a big bag and it has buckwheat, clovers, alfalfa, rye, flaxseed and more! Chickens love it! Just go to peaceful valley online and in the search box look for "chicken forage blend" I think you will love it! In addition to the forage blend I bought extra white and red clover. I got those seeds from amazon.com. I mixed it together and have a great pasture. The clover only takes about 4 days to sprout and only requires seed to soil contact. Don't allow the seed to dry out in between watering. I think your chickens will love this mix with the extra clover! Hope this helps. It's so easy to do and is high in omega 3.

 

[gailmaison]

don't waste your time planting 100 sq feet for your chickens. They'll have that destroyed in a day and all you'll have is less money in your pocket from the seed you bought. Any plant material would need a couple years of rooting to be able to stand up to chickens scratching in it. Now, if you have several plots you are able to seed , as with horses, once established you can let the chicks forage and scratch and rotate the areas they are using by moving fences or relocating their coop. You may think, well horses are way more destructive than little ole chickens!! Not so...chickens can destroy a 100 sq ft (10 X 10) in an afternoon. Horses in a proportionately sized pasture would take a season ...maybe a little less...as they only eat the tops of the grass, and stay away form anywhere they have pooped. Chickens on the other hand scratch the livin daylights as well as the life right out of any piece of land they can get their claws into and their own poop is no deterrent !!

 

[donrae]

don't waste your time planting 100 sq feet for your chickens. They'll have that destroyed in a day and all you'll have is less money in your pocket from the seed you bought. Any plant material would need a couple years of rooting to be able to stand up to chickens scratching in it. Now, if you have several plots you are able to seed , as with horses, once established you can let the chicks forage and scratch and rotate the areas they are using by moving fences or relocating their coop. You may think, well horses are way more destructive than little ole chickens!! Not so...chickens can destroy a 100 sq ft (10 X 10) in an afternoon. Horses in a proportionately sized pasture would take a season ...maybe a little less...as they only eat the tops of the grass, and stay away form anywhere they have pooped. Chickens on the other hand scratch the livin daylights as well as the life right out of any piece of land they can get their claws into and their own poop is no deterrent !!

x2 on this. You'd have to do rotational grazing to have any green area. Pretty much anywhere chickens live in confinement turns to a barren wasteland.