Freedom ranger cover crop?

[mtripp]

I'm planning on raising freedom rangers for my first time this year. Just ordered 25 sexed hens (no cock-a-doodle-doo here) for a June 13th delivery. I will have the space I'm planning on keeping them in occupied until June 1st. Just wondering if there is any good cover crop I can plant to help off set food cost?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Does that mean there will only be 2 weeks growth before they go in?

Things I use for forage are alfalfa, buckwheat, field peas, seven top turnip, sorghum, millet, beets, radish.

 

[mtripp]

Well I figured they would stay in the coop for a couple weeks before I allowed them out. So looking like 4 weeks.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Good point.
4 weeks is sufficient to get a good cover/forage crop going.
I like alfalfa because, once established, it's hard to kill and is a perennial.
Turnips, though annual are the same and the Seven Top produces a smaller tuber but about 4 times the foliage.
At 2 weeks they won't eat a lot of greenery so by the time the stuff has grown 5 or 6 weeks, if fertile soil with good moisture, you should have good pasture. Actually it will be ideal because chickens like new succulent growth.
Seven Top turnips are very expensive online but Hummert International sells 5 lb. bags for about a tenth or less with shipping for what you can buy a gram for online. That will do at least an acre so you could use a 5 lb. bag for years planted sequentially in a small plot
Buckwheat grows very fast in warm weather (not cold hardy) and can be almost mature by the time you need it.