What do you grow to feed the chickens??

[yinepu]

I actually have a little left, in the high grasses so I think that is why the birds have not eaten it down. LOL

All my lovely flowering plants are gone in one area-- planning on moving the birds away fromthe house area as they only travel a bout 150 feet, maybe this will keep them further away and I can have my flower gardens back again.

lol.. you have lazy birds!.. I have had to go hunt down a few of mine.. One time I found a trio out by the highway by the mailboxes... (that's out our front pasture.. out the front gate.. past the neighbors and down a dirt road...)
I expect they were checking the mail... after that they got confined to the coop for a week...

 

[Arielle]

Quote: Yes I have lazy birds, which is totally annoying because they demolish everything with in their play area but don't make use of the other 12 acres. Yes lazy!! THey prefer the feed bin to walking very far. Made it easy to cross many breeds off my list of keepers. lol Or maybe the diff is hatchery v breeder bred????

 

[Noobiechickluv]

I actually have a little left, in the high grasses so I think that is why the birds have not eaten it down. LOL

All my lovely flowering plants are gone in one area-- planning on moving the birds away fromthe house area as they only travel a bout 150 feet, maybe this will keep them further away and I can have my flower gardens back again.

Lucky you, I really wish I could let my girls free range, but we have a BIG wildlife issue out here. Hawks, owls, raccoons, and dogs. I'd give up a few flowers just to let em go. Although they seem pretty happy. Our run is a lot bigger than what they really need.

 

[Noobiechickluv]

lol.. you have lazy birds!.. I have had to go hunt down a few of mine.. One time I found a trio out by the highway by the mailboxes... (that's out our front pasture.. out the front gate.. past the neighbors and down a dirt road...)
I expect they were checking the mail... after that they got confined to the coop for a week...

Checking the mail...... lol

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
hey. they could have a "pen pal"

 

[Arielle]

Quote: I have wildlife issues too-- live and let live here.

 

[Arielle]

Quote:
hey. they could have a "pen pal"

 

[Highcotton]

Quote:
I plant crimson clover and Wrens Abruzzi Rye as a winter ground cover and for forage for the chickens here in Georgia. Crimson clover is a reseeding annual so it will die when the weather gets too warm and it will come back the next fall. The clover will grow all of the way to main. I don't know if it is planted in the winter all over or not. The area that the rye grows well is from Central Texas East to the Atlantic South of Tennesee. There are other varieties of Rye will grow better farther north. Wheat will also work well also. The chickens like all of these for forage. The clover adds nitrogen to the soil and the grains provide organic matter for the soil when turned under. i turn most of mine under before the rye produces grain but the chickens will eat the grain also. So you really get triple benefits. The chickens get winter forage and And the ground cover and chicken droppings provide better soil for the garden. We get no snow cover in this part of Georgia so there is green forage all winter.

 

[Highcotton]

Quote:
I have made frames of PVC and put plastic over them. It can get pretty hot in there on a bright day.

 

[AxisOfBeagles]

My little flock (13 hens, one roo - Cuckoo Marans, EE's, RIR's, Iowa Blues) free ranges all day - with much of their range being in the vineyard. So this next spring I'm planning on killing two birds with one stone (so to speak!) - planting a vineyard cover crop that does double duty as chicken feed. A mix of rye grasses, flax, buckwheat, clovers, trefoil, and alfalfa. Tried out a small patch in the garden earlier this fall and the chooks seemed to really like it, so will plant it as a cover crop in a few of the vinerows this next season.

The trick seems to be in controlling when and where they range - keeping them out when I seed, but steering them in when it's ready - so I'll likely be investing in some electric fencing pretty soon.