Replanting a run? Tips?

[lhousesoccer]

So, after 5 years, my outdoor 25' x 25" fenced in run is a muddy, barren messy. No grass, no nothing, Just dirt. I can't relocate it, but I would like to restore it. I can temporarily make a smaller, adjacent run and direct the chickens into it for the spring, maybe into the summer if needed. I'm wondering what I can do to fix up the run. There's plenty of fertile dirt there, thanks to the chickens! Can I plant it? If so, what should I plant it with? Something that's perennial and fast growing, and tough if possible. Anyone else done this? Thanks!

 

[lhousesoccer]

Anyone have experience replanting a run?

 

[OEF5]

You can do something like this:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1086632/grazing-boxes-for-chickens

I've seen another thread with something like this where the run was muddy. But I can't find it.

The wife and I are doing a chicken moat around our garden, and we are going to only allow them to graze on half of the full run at a time so that we can plant/regrow things in the run that they are not using. We hope that by doing this, they will always have stuf fto be able to pick/scratch at.

p.s. disclaimer, I have never raised chickens yet and we don't even have our chicks or the run built!

 

[jennifer0224]

In preparation of the Summer sun, i am trying to replant my run as well, to offer shade in the afternoon. Aside from the fruit trees in there, i am experimenting with fast growing shrubs. On the Fresh Eggs Daily blog, she recommends butterfly bushes because they are tough, fast growing, and the chickens dont bother them. I bouht some 1-gallon bushes a couple months ago and they seem to be doing great, i just placed some bricks around the roots so they would jot be dug up. Maybe something like that will work for you?

 

[JayJo]

I'm curious about this too. I have a few things planted in the run but they are blocked off by chicken wire so that they don't get eaten. I recently grew out four flats of chicken grass, and then planted it in the run once it was lush. You can see it in my profile photo the day it went in. Four days later, it's just tiny nubs in the ground. I put hardware cloth on top of it, otherwise I'm sure the roots would be gone as well.

I will say that I have "gorilla hair" shredded redwood mulch in the run and that's been great to keep mud down. Even in the torrential rains we've been having lately, the run is not muddy. The girls scratch it up and toss it around but it mostly still stays covered.

Would love some other ideas as well. I'll check out butterfly bushes. I've grown those before and it's a nice plant.