Biodiverse Polyculture (USDA 8a Zone Pasture) - sounds better than "My Acres of Weeds"

[U_Stormcrow]

Houstonia (Bluet) - Its an unknown thing

This tiny, very delicate flower sits on a tall, spindly stalk, lifted high above (relatively speaking) the rest of the plant, worming its way up between other grasses. I didn't plant this, it doesn't clump, but its everywhere, a flower here, a flower there, in and amongst the more conventional grasses.

Has been in bloom for a while - since early spring.

I can find nothing on it nutritionally, or specifically regarding chickens - but my birds happily wander thru the pasture eating the whole flower and a chunk of the stem in a single swift bite - the four petalled flowers are that small. They leave the rest alone, and enough escapes decapitation each year that it reseeds, making use of the spaces between other plants.

Initially, I mistook this for blue flax, if flax only reached 10-14" tall, and had four petals instead of five.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Muscadine Grape - Seasonal Caution

Picture is from one of the vines I deliberately planted, but my choice to do so was informed by both the local vinyard and the fact that this native grows wild throughout my forested area, some vines thicker than a broom handle. The leaves on this are largely ignored by the chickens (though the goats will browse on them), but the fruits (still ripening - at least another month and another doubling in size) are quite popular with the chickens. Assumedly, the goats, too.

Skins on these are quite thick, and they are seeded. Makes them popular for wines and jams/jellies, not a "table grape". Given the chance, chickens will gorge on the fruit, potentially impacting dietary balance. Thankfully, fruit are more individual than bunching and the vines can be carefully pruned or otherwise controlled to reduce density.

From a nutrition standpoint, the fruit is (not surprisingly) mostly water, about 84%. Roughly 1% protein, 0.5% fat, 3.5% fiber, and about 13.5% carbs. They aren't a good source of any particular amino acid -in fact, the quantities Threonine, one of the limiting amino acids for poultry, drop rapidly as fruit sets.

That makes grapes firmly "treats" - useful like scattering scratch to encourage them to range where they might not, but otherwise of limited value. The vines are good for covering trellises and otherwise offering dappled shade, but grow slowly and will be seasonally bare. At two years of age (the first year of fruit production), my vines are barely 8-10' in length. Plan accordingly.

I also have vines of Thompson and flame seedless grapes (first year). Those are for my wife an I, now that its established that the chickens won't destroy them before they are productive.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Native Blackberry - Seasonal Caution

I didn't plant these, they are entirely native, and covered by thorns. Year round, the goats eat the young tips off the tops of the canes as they pass 15-18" in length, they seem to make great browse. Favoring sandy, acidic soils, they don't root deeply, and a well gloved hand can easily remove them where they grow together too densely. The thorns seem to discourage my birds from nesting underneath these, as well.

As predator protection, that's a negative. As comfort in emptying egg nests in the pasture, its a huge positive. These things will rip you up worse than any rose.

In season, they produce continuously for months. The birds love the fruits, while a number of insects are attracted to the bushes as well. As are rabbits and squirrels. Mostly rabbits. Much like the grapes, these are mostly water, high in vitamin C, about 1% protein, 0.5% fat, around 6% fiber. Purely "treats", these put up canes the first year (which look a lot like poison ivy at first to those who never got past "leaves of three...") which fruit the second year and coninute fruiting for a further 5-7 years.

Prune/Manage accordingly.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Sorghum (Sudangrass/Milo) - Its a Good Thing

Another "the birds brought it", I should have seeded some of this. Actually, I probably did seed some of this in one of the innumerable mixes I put down. Sorghum is pretty decent at breaking up soil, its aparantly effective in controlling nemotode populations, and its a grain with *some* nutritional value to chickens.

About 10% protein, 3.4% fat, good source of calcium, thiamine, niacin. Amino acid mix in the various sorghum varieties are HIGHLY variable, but generally inferior to most millets. After the seeds have dried and spread, this makes good material for deep litter and the like - its quite stiff, tend to throw it places that get muddy to "carpet" the area.

When in season, the birds will jump and snap or peck in efforts to bend the stalk over, so they can eat it bare. Additionally, if you follow "three sisters" method plantings, its the tall, stiff "stalky" option for supporting more delicate vining plants. During the first year, the birds ate far more of this than was able to reseed itself, so most of my sorghum is outside the pasture and waiting to be spread back in by the effects of wind and rain.

I plan to continue to spread the stuff about, and wouldn't be opposed to seeding more - at the right price.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Broomsedge - Its an OK Thing (If managed)

This actually isn't a Sedge at all, its a native prarie grass related to the Bluestem varieties, of which I have several. Tall, and fast growing in spring, the new growth is tasty to both chickens and goats, though its low protein and low productivity compared to many other grains. A clumping grass, those tall, straw-like stalks produce a small number of grain-like seeds which the birds also snack on. Once its gone to seed, the dry stalks are easily removed, and used as bedding - you can take them with a swipe of your hand, no cutting required.

That's the good.

The bad is that its a clumping, fast growing, tall grass which quickly outcompetes other grasses, particularly bahia, So it needs to be managed to keep from getting out of hand. Its also an "indicator" grass, in this case, indicating a pasture with high acidity, and/or low phoshperous. And/or because soil acidity can be so high that the phospherous becomes unavailable for mone beneficial plant's use. Yet another indicator that I REALLY need my soils tested.

Apart from manual control, aggressive grazing can be effective (thank you goats!), and improvements in the soil's quality, which the chickens and goats will both do, in time. For now, I'm trying to keep the stands small and tightly clumped. Tall fescue (which I have) can also outcompete this, in time.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

G. Provumbans ("Longevity" Spinach)
- Its an unknown thing

Gifted to me by a friend, this is (was?) a popular "superfood" here in the US, and has been a part of Oriental medicine for centuries. In spite of that, there is almost no published (in english?) traditional nutritional information available on this plant. Though there is no shortage of published papers touting its alleged health benefits. Best I can offer you is from this source, its about 4.5% protein dry weight.

It stays low, the goats ignore it. Chickens sometimes nibble at the leaves, but don't seem to favor it. Good thing, while its tolerant of part shade, it does best in a narrow climate range that simply isn't present here. If you are north of me, don't even attempt it (zones 7B or lower). A coastal 9a+ location would likely be best.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Spiderwort - its Pretty?

No toxicity, all parts of the plant are edible, and have been a native American staple for centuries. They also have near 0 nutritional value, so far as I can tell. Like lettuce, largely fiber and filler with some trace minerals.

But they grow readily, are attractive, help break up the clay, do well in acidic soils, and tolerate part shade. Also, in spite of their delicate appearance, they suffer a rather immpressive amount of abuse! The tops (flowers) are routinely chmped off by my goats, while the low flowers are completely ignored. Apparently, the plant is a popular feed source with white-tailed deer (which I have), box turtles (which I have), and various rabbits (which I have). So, I'm letting it grow where it will, since none of those creatures are likely disease vectors for my birds.

 

[Sally PB]

Very interesting. I'm enjoying this thread.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Very interesting. I'm enjoying this thread.

Eventually, it will be complete enough I can start linking it when I use the term, so interested people can poke/peek around, see if something here either works for them, or warns them off! But its slow going, trying to do a couple plants a day, between other projects. I have easy another dozen grasses and grains to do (and they are damned hard to identify at times), and probably another handful of fruits and flowers, then a dozen more "I don't even know what to fall them"s (dog fennel, rabbit tobacco, etc), plus a handful of seeds.

For today? The three pictures above I have yet to label.

 

[21hens-incharge]

View attachment 2760699

This is Spider Wart aka Widows Tears. It is a bulb plant. I grow this as an ornamental in purple and white.

I do not know toxicity.