Chicken pastures complete. Pics on #19

[patman75]

I just wanted to thank everyone again for their advice. I overseeded the clover and did not rototill. The clover is coming in just fine and the chickens have not detroyed the turf. I have opened up both pastures because the grass and clover is not being overrun by the chickens.

I will probably go back to rotating in the fall when the turf is not growing as much.

Thanks again!

 

[patman75]

I justed finished adding about 40X60 area to the pasture. The new area is behind the garden and there is a few white pines, pin oaks and a mulberry tree for shade. I plan to put some more fruit trees in this area so if anything falls the chickens will get and the chickens will help reduce the bugs in the area.

 

[waldeneffect]

We've been trying to perfect our chicken pastures over the last few years.

One thing we learned the hard way was to monitor pasture conditions closely.

If you let the chickens stay too long it might not bounce back as fast as you need it to.

It's hard work building the fences but pays off when you see how bright the egg yolks are!


http://www.avianaquamiser.com/posts/Tour_of_the_broiler_pastures/

The post in the link has a map of our pasture systems and some extensive notes that might help someone starting this type of free range operation.

 

[aart]

Really old threads coming up are interesting.

Wonders if @patman75 is still around and how his pasture setup worked out.

 

[patman75]

Really old threads coming up are interesting.

Wonders if @patman75 is still around and how his pasture setup worked out.

The pasture is working out great, thanks for asking aart.

With the added area I added I mostly leave the entire pasture open to the flock all year. Sometimes I fence off part of the pasture to keep the new chicks separated from older hens.

White and red clover are my two main plants I have added to the pasture. White clover is really good at holding up to grazing pressure and greens up early in the spring and sticks around late into winter if not covered by snow. Areas where the chickens ripped up grasses the clover still remains. I frost seeded additional clover in the bare spots and now I have lush clover patches. I still have to mow the chicken yard twice a year, which also helps keep some weeds down and helps keep the clover lush.

Additionally, I'm moving my garden so the chickens get more pasture

. I cover cropped with buckwheat, tilled in the buckwheat for green manure and planted 8 white pines and then seeded with white clover and winter rye. The rye will be mowed in the spring and a nice white clover patch will remain. The chickens didn't eat the buckwheat but they liked hiding in it.

 

[aart]

Great...someone replied to this old thread bringing it to the first page, I'd never seen it before. ......glad you were able to come back and update it, I tagged you hoping you would!

So...... are you still just letting the chooks into the pasture for a limited amount of time per day?