Shade tolerant cover/forage crop for run

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

I have a fairly bare shady area that will become chicken run later this year.

I figured if I can it’d be nice to Green it up for the girls before they move in.

I’ve been Googling around but not finding much info on a good cover/forage to plant.

Any suggestions? Obviously, the more nutritional, the better.

 

[paintedChix]

most cover crops would work fine for chickens - Clover, vetch, drawing a blank

From Mother Earth News :

"Many common garden cover crops — alfalfa, clover, annual rye, kale (and its close relative, rape), turnips, mustard, buckwheat, and grain grasses — provide abundant feed for poultry. All can be cut and carried to the chickens, or the chickens can graze these crops. "

and I LOVE these websites -

Fresh Eggs Daily

The Grow Network

High Mowing Organic Seeds

Another one -

Insteading

 

[B-Goock]

Are you going to rotate them to different runs?
You may want to think about making some small cages to protect some plants. That way when they scratch it all down you'll still have some greens left.

 

[member 158781]

I have a fairly bare shady area that will become chicken run later this year.

I figured if I can it’d be nice to Green it up for the girls before they move in.

I’ve been Googling around but not finding much info on a good cover/forage to plant.

Any suggestions? Obviously, the more nutritional, the better.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Rebel-Southern-Classic-7-lb-Mixture-Blend-Grass-Seed/50140316 for the south

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Scotts-Turf-Builder-Dense-Shade-Mix-7-lb-Mixture-Blend-Grass-Seed/4067566 for up north

 

[ColoradoPip]

If your goal is to provide a grassy/green run and if this will be their permanent, year round, run, then don't bother. Your chickens will eat and scratch it bare unless you let it rest and keep them off of it. If you look at pictures of runs you quickly notice they are alll bare unless they're mobile or setup for rotation.

The only way to keep ground from getting scratched barren is rotation.

 

[member 158781]

If your goal is to provide a grassy/green run and if this will be their permanent, year round, run, then don't bother. Your chickens will eat and scratch it bare unless you let it rest and keep them off of it. If you look at pictures of runs you quickly notice they are alll bare unless they're mobile or setup for rotation.

The only way to keep ground from getting scratched barren is rotation.

I agree. Rotation is the only answer to keep your shady lawn grass intact. But this grass is a good start to make it happen.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Oh yeah, not expecting the green to last more than a few weeks, but figured a bunch of green in there when they moved in would be a nice treat.

My biggest concern is the shade...most cover and forage appear to need full sun.

 

[member 158781]

Oh yeah, not expecting the green to last more than a few weeks, but figured a bunch of green in there when they moved in would be a nice treat.

My biggest concern is the shade...most cover and forage appear to need full sun.

Well, if you have a few chickens on a rather large patch, you can let them forage on half of it and allow them the other half after a couple of weeks. In between, reseed and fertilize and water. But if you have less than 20 square ft per chicken, you can already forget about it.

 

[so lucky]

There are lawn grasses that thrive in a fair amount of shade. Creeping red fescue is one I can think of right off. But you might want to consider why the ground is bare. Is it under maple trees that take all the moisture out of the soil? If so, probably nothing will grow there very well.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Ground is bare mostly because it used to be chicken run a few years ago (plus the shade). The shade is from oak and pine trees.

Shade adapted grass may be the best bet...but wanted to see if there was another option.

I’m not in a rotational pasture viable situation, but I could see using a portable fence to introduce the grass a few feet at a time to stretch out the fun.