Thanks Claude,
This is most helpful. I may not be able to do all that
you suggest, but will certainly aim toward a variety of plantings.
We have been totally free ranging our chickens on worn out
pasture and just confining them at night for their own safety.
They have been free to wander from the pasture to a wet wooded area
of alders and willows and actually spend about half their time in the wooded
area.
After years of thinking about upgrading the pasture, I am
finally getting to it and was thinking of reseeding to a mix of clovers come
spring, but thought I would ask around first. My definition of best is
multifaceted, meaning what is relatively easy to establish and maintain, builds
up the soil and provides good nutrition for the chickens.
Speaking of using peas for building the soil, I have been
using perennial Lathco flatpea to rebuild soil on another area of hillside
pasture that would only grow sparse grass before, but now grows flatpea so
densely that it is difficult to walk through. A few years ago I did a
non-chemical vegetation control demonstration project for Green Mountain Power
under their transmission lines in Waitsfield and had excellent success planting
flatpea in stands so thick that woody brush would not regrow.
About the most exciting and gruesome action I have ever seen
was when we (meaning the chickens, my daughter and I) discovered a nest of mice
in the winter chicken house.
Watching chickens sure is a fascinating activity. Back
about 14 years ago, when our son was only 2, our whole family was sitting on the
deck one Sunday afternoon just watching the chickens. We were sitting so
still that a spider spun down from the overhang right down onto my son's
head. Immediately he recited, "Little Miss Muffet sat on a
tuffet eating her curves away" . As you can see we had not taught him
cheese making (nor did we teach him this version of the nursery
rhyme).
Anyway, thanks again for taking the time to send me this
information.
- Gerry
Hi
Gerry,
I also live in Vermont, and use Chickens extensively in
my PC setup, so felt I should reply to your query at length.
Not
quite sure what parameters you want to use to get "the best", but
I can share some PC ideas to help you get "optimal"
forage.
The difference is one looks only at output/yield
(Most/best/highest), the other considers inputs (
upkeep/maintenance/work/investment/resource use/energy loss etc).
Too
often, a reductionistic understanding of "best" leads to the
notion that feeding your animals lots of the best and only the best, would
be best - but in fact, what they need, want and left to their own devices
choose is a diverse diet from the wide range of fabulously nutritious plants
and grasses that grow so well here. Keep in mind that our State flower is
the Red Clover, ( would you believe it's not a native !?) try to
NOT grow that in Vermont, and what could be better than fresh dandelion
greens, nettles, plantain, chicory, rye grass, and other assorted
"weeds"?
The other thing is, what's "best" in
May, ain't necessarily what's best in August. By simply observing my
totally free range chickens ( worth the price of admission alone) I've
noticed that they like different plants at different times, and that their
diet is by no means restricted to green material, they do love their
bug proteins, and of course grit, not to mention kitchen scraps, orchard
gleanings, compost piles and notably frogs, who seem to bring out the worst
of their raptor lineage, I mean they go beserk !
Another
thought is, I get the impression that when we use the word
"pasture" we immediately conjure up images of flat treeless, and
usually degraded former cow pasture. May I suggest you look into Permanent
Chicken tractors where we use the PERMACULTURE of tree crops ?
In my
set-up, I ring the chickens with highly nutritious edible, nitrogen fixing,
hardy, windbreak/protection/barrier plants like Siberian Pea, Russian Olive,
Buffaloberry, Black Locust, and some wild rose as well - Also interplant
lillies and comfrey etc etc.
Finally, if the land is really degraded,
build up the soil with a mix of field peas, oats, and Vetch. Peas come
up first, fix nitrogen for the oats, which provide support for the peas, the
vetch pulls the whole lot down. Works great, tons of food for the chickens
too.
Good luck,
Claude Genest
"The Greatest Fine
Art of the future will be the making of a comfortable living from a small
piece of land." - Abraham Lincoln Green Mountain Permaculture : Solutions,
Sustainability, Sustenance....
From: "Gerry Hawkes"
<ghawkes@sover.net> Reply-To: "permaculture"
<permaculture@franklin.oit.unc.edu> Date: Mon, 5 Nov
2001 12:29:21 -0600 To: "permaculture"
<permaculture@franklin.oit.unc.edu> Subject: Pasturing
chickens
Does anyone have suggestions for the best forage mix to
plant for pasturing chickens?
Gerry Hawkes Woodstock,
Vermont
ghawkes@biketrack.com
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