i have had some good luck w/ cover crops and i also grow some sunflowers on the sides of my run fences for some shade and cover and then pick the flowers in fall and feed the seeds. i have tried rape, buckwheat,winter rye,clover,mixed pasture grasses. what i find works the best is the winter rye,rape and buckwheat, this summer i'm going to try some field peas, they will grow fast if you have decent soil, i would do a soil test just so you know what you're working with. i have 2 different runs connected and i rotate the chicken through each run throught the summer and plant cover crops depending on the seed a couple of times. i really like the winter rye as its fast growing esp in the summer, i usually let it get to about waist high and then let the chickens have at it once they get it down to about ankle height i then rotate them to the other pen then after they get the next pen down to the same height they go back to the 1st pen i rotate until they are down to the dirt again then rototill and replant. the rye will also grow in thick if you let it grow all summer then turn brown in the fall, i have also done that and let them have at it all winter, then replant in the spring. good luck.
