Welllaidacres
Songster
I am luckily enough to have access to a free bag of alfalfa, red clover, alsike clover, timothy grass, and orchard grass mix. A friend of mine does custom seed blending and this batch was an oops for a farmer (Grass seed wasn't supposed to be there, but hired man messed up blending). Bad day for him good day for me. The bag will seed an acre he tells me.
I know the bare minimum for run space is 10 sq ft/bird. I currently have 900 sq ft run that my 30 laying chickens utilize. It is subdivided into 3 separate but equal sized paddocks so that they can eat on an area and then i move them to the next to allow the freshly grazed patch to regrow and rest before more grazing/scratching/etc. With the barn and existing runs location, I could easily expand this area and plan to do so this fall/winter. This next question is for those of you that do not free range, but "pasture" your birds or anyone who can provide some information. How much sq ft should I figure per bird if I want a permanent pasture set up that does not turn to mud/bare dirt. My 3 paddocks at 300 sq ft. are on the smaller side as it is, so I know 10 sq ft/bird is too low. This was set up with the intent of a dozen birds, but chicken math happened. For fencing I use 2x4 welded wire and stretch poultry netting over the top. Not completely predator proof, but meets my security vs. risk vs. cost mindset currently. Thanks for any info you can provide.
I know the bare minimum for run space is 10 sq ft/bird. I currently have 900 sq ft run that my 30 laying chickens utilize. It is subdivided into 3 separate but equal sized paddocks so that they can eat on an area and then i move them to the next to allow the freshly grazed patch to regrow and rest before more grazing/scratching/etc. With the barn and existing runs location, I could easily expand this area and plan to do so this fall/winter. This next question is for those of you that do not free range, but "pasture" your birds or anyone who can provide some information. How much sq ft should I figure per bird if I want a permanent pasture set up that does not turn to mud/bare dirt. My 3 paddocks at 300 sq ft. are on the smaller side as it is, so I know 10 sq ft/bird is too low. This was set up with the intent of a dozen birds, but chicken math happened. For fencing I use 2x4 welded wire and stretch poultry netting over the top. Not completely predator proof, but meets my security vs. risk vs. cost mindset currently. Thanks for any info you can provide.