Cover crop for chickens

[pibb]

I have a good size fenced in garden that I split it into two parts, a "chicken area" and a "garden area". The "garden area" is fenced off from the chickens during garden season but is open for the chickens during the off garden season. I grow crimson clover for the winter in the "garden area" and let the chickens eat it and they love it but when garden time gets here, I till it in and block it off from the chickens. Right now I don't have anything in particular growing in the "chicken area" they can eat on besides what I call Tennessee grass.

What would you plant in the "chicken area" that the chickens will love to eat, preferably perennials? I do mow the "chicken area" about every other time I mow my yard so tall stuff would probably be out of the question. Right now I am thinking white clover.

 

[Folly's place]

I like mixed plantings, so some grass, clovers, no-toxic 'weeds', anything that comes up.
Mine really like wild violets and dandilions, for example. Chickweed? Pasture mixes, wild bird mixes, Pheasants Forever seed mixes. Not a monoculture, in other words.
Mary

 

[B-Goock]

You could look into some food plot mixes for hunting. Farmers plant turnips to break the soil so nutrients and water can get down into the soil for "no till". Ive thought of doing this since I have alot of clay.

 

[Mtnboomer]

Clovers, oats, and rye. I had some leftover food plot mix that i was going to use and never got a chance to plant it. I experimented with it for my chickens by planting it in old rain gutters. I kept the chickens away after germination until it was good and thick. Once they were free to feed, they destroyed it! The gutters were eaten down to the soil in just a few weeks.

 

[Fluffyflufffluff]

I like mixed plantings, so some grass, clovers, no-toxic 'weeds', anything that comes up.
Mine really like wild violets and dandilions, for example. Chickweed? Pasture mixes, wild bird mixes, Pheasants Forever seed mixes. Not a monoculture, in other words.
Mary

We have some wild grass a gumamela flowers, Santan, A big mango tree at the back, and a couple of malunggay trees. the chickens loves to stay underneath the mango tree.

 

[Folly's place]

Be careful with the rye, because some will harbor ergot, a serious toxin. Make sure you get varieties that won't carry it.
Mary

 

[pibb]

I dont really need anything to break up the soil on the chicken part since I wont be gardening on that side. Just something for them to eat on in spring, summer, and fall.

 

[RonEstrada]

I was just shopping on Deer Creek Seed and the varieties are overwhelming. Has anyone found that any one variety of clover, buckwheat, or rye is any better for chickens than another?

 

[pibb]

Your location would probably be what decides what variety of clover. I'm using crimson clover in the winter and it does great in the cold but it is an annual so that is where I plant my garden. This year I'm using ladino clover on the other side and it is a perennial. It's growing up a storm right now and its doing great but don't know how it will suit me when cold weather comes.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

I just ordered some wheat, rye, barley, and rape to grow for my flock.

Love the idea of a garden and chicken run next to each other - if feasible you should consider switching them every year. Great for fertility, great for pest avoidance.