Re-seeding Options?

[CritterFarmer]

Our chickens currently get a fenced-in area (100' x 100') for their outdoor area, however after about a year it's been pretty tore up. It is going to be expanded in a few months to about 4x it's current size. We are also fencing in a slightly smaller area (100' x 50') which we can rotate them to temporarily while the bare portion re-seeds.

I was thinking of re-seeding with clover, as it's fairly hardy and grows well here (Ontario). Any other ideas of quick growing seeds that do well in a chicken pasture?

 

[EricShane]

bird seeds very easy to grow, and you get a little variety of millets, sunflowers and things.

 

[flopshot]

if you can keep the seed intact ( not eaten ) anual rye grass is cheap grows quickly. it will die off when temps start to average over 70 F.

 

[SophieLain127]

what about diffrent types of fountain grass? I'm planning on doing a pea gravel sand mixture and planting diffrent types of sedums and fountain grass

 

[aidenbaby]

Have you thought about dividing the larger area into 3-4 sections and doing a rotation? Then, you could have one that is actively used, one that is freshly seeded and one that is ready to go for rotation.

Also, I googled fast growing ground covers and got a couple of different options. There are vines like Virginia creeper, grasses like dwarf mondo grass, and shrubs like Japanese spurge. I would be cautious about what to plant though as some plants can be highly invasive or even toxic. (On a side note: I am fond of mints for groundcovers as they smell heavenly when stepped on but again highly invasive.)