Feeding and free ranging thoughts/tips/debunking?

[Coops Dad]

Question, im trying to prepare my chicken plot now and have similar size land. What cover crop/seeds are you planting for your free range chickens?

Clover, field peas, fava beans, vetch and oats. Any legume and most grains are good. I think buckwheat and sorghum are toxic.

 

[topdiggy2]

Where are you located? Climate can have a big effect on what might be suitable for you.

Im located in Sierra Leone (West Africa). On the plot i have the poultry house on, the ground is very rocky and loomy. We have a rainy season here that starts in late April/early May, and last until mid October/ early Nov. From december til April is our dry season, and by dry i mean no rain at all.

This May i planted cowpeas, corn, and sweet sorgum, rice. See photos. Corn didnt do very well and the sorgum doesnt look like it will come up well either. Beans & rice are doing excellent.

I didnt use any fertilizer despite advice. Trying to keep it organic since its been virgin land. Gonna start a Jadam Korean Natural Farming type of program to enrich soil for next may. My plan is to run the chickens thru the plots as a fertilizer & turning tool. Then go behind them and plant my corn & sorghum again next May.

So, im in the process of incubating 200eggs, im hoping for 50chicks that i can start to free range by end of Oct in a 100ft x 25ft plot, 2 weeks at a time. Meanwhile seed the rest with some kinda seed mix to suppliment for chicken & goat feed.

I should add, i make my own feed. Consisting of cowpeas, cassava peels, corn & cob, fish meal, cassav leafs, azolla, and oyster shells.

 

[topdiggy2]

Clover, field peas, fava beans, vetch and oats. Any legume and most grains are good. I think buckwheat and sorghum are toxic.

Okay thanks for this. Inhave been eyeing this deer food plot mix on ebay that has similar mix in it. See my previous post above for my goals...

 

[Ridgerunner]

Thanks for that information, that changed my thinking. You are essentially looking for a cover crop during the dry season that the chickens can forage on. Whether the chickens eat it and poop it out or you turn it under when planting, that is a really good way to improve the land. The more "compost" you can work into the soil the better. That's not just for the nutrients but it improves the tilth (workability) of the soil whether you have a sandy or clayey soil. One downside to your rainy season is that certain nutrients, especially nitrogen, are water soluble. They leach out of the soil, leaving it low in those nutrients. You may need to find a way to supplement the nitrogen especially. I don't know what is available to you but with all those animals compost or compost tea may be an organic option.

Chickens grazing like that should clear off the vegetation or at least most of it. But they are unlikely to totally take out the roots. You are probably 4 to 5 degrees from the equator, it is going to be hot and humid in summer but will never get cold enough to freeze in the winter. Your ideal cover crop would be an annual, not something that will come back from the roots. I don't know what those are in your climate. Clover is usually considered an outstanding cover crop and forage crop but some varieties of clover may be an annual in certain climates but a perennial in others.

I don't know what crops will work best in your climate. Often there is no ideal crop or mix. I'm trying to point out the traits I'd be looking for.

Good luck!

 

[topdiggy2]

Thanks for that information, that changed my thinking. You are essentially looking for a cover crop during the dry season that the chickens can forage on. Whether the chickens eat it and poop it out or you turn it under when planting, that is a really good way to improve the land. The more "compost" you can work into the soil the better. That's not just for the nutrients but it improves the tilth (workability) of the soil whether you have a sandy or clayey soil. One downside to your rainy season is that certain nutrients, especially nitrogen, are water soluble. They leach out of the soil, leaving it low in those nutrients. You may need to find a way to supplement the nitrogen especially. I don't know what is available to you but with all those animals compost or compost tea may be an organic option.

Chickens grazing like that should clear off the vegetation or at least most of it. But they are unlikely to totally take out the roots. You are probably 4 to 5 degrees from the equator, it is going to be hot and humid in summer but will never get cold enough to freeze in the winter. Your ideal cover crop would be an annual, not something that will come back from the roots. I don't know what those are in your climate. Clover is usually considered an outstanding cover crop and forage crop but some varieties of clover may be an annual in certain climates but a perennial in others.

I don't know what crops will work best in your climate. Often there is no ideal crop or mix. I'm trying to point out the traits I'd be looking for.

Good luck!

Thanks Ridgerunner, I appreciate the help. Im going to try 25lbs of those deer plot mixes with clover, radishes, peas, wheat, oats, etc. and see how that does. Ill get that down next month sometime.

Thanks