Seeding a run

[kerbotx]

Look into grazing frames to place over the areas you sow, it'll help the crop last longer.

 

[Driley62]

I planned on doing a couple to help it last longer but also wasted tonseed the entire thing.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Rye is a cool season grass, so if nothing else, it will grow some and protect the soil against run off over the winter - then when it dies back, its fertilizer for what comes next.

I'm in a completely different climate than you, but my solution to the pasture (or an area of the run you can keep them from grazing for a time) is to seed Everything. I don't like monocultures. Grases like Rye, Orchard and Panicum, legumes like Clover (I have three varieties, Crimson, White, Red), grains like Sorghum, Millet, Amaranth, herbs like thyme, rosemary, fenugreek (BIG FAN of this). Then the chickens can eat what they want, and its blooming or seeding across multiple seasons. The blackberry and purple passion fruits are native, didn't have to plant those. and you can plant specimins for interest - fountain grass is popular for that, and it makes good straw for bedding.