Gardening for Chickens

This is where our chickens spend their time. They come out to free range, but only when we can watch them--between the hawks overhead and the dogs that roam around the neighborhood, we're just not ready to let them out unsupervised.

So to keep them entertained while they're in their run, we try to grow something up the chicken wire fence that they can eat. At first this happened by accident: I planted some sweet peas, and they loved them, so then I realized that having something to pick at would keep them entertained. I started more sweet peas, but I really wanted something very easy and fast-growing, so now I've got some cover crop started--annual rye and field peas. They should grow well all winter and the seed is very cheap.

We had our first rain of the season this weekend, so I think there will be abundant greens for the hens to munch on over the next few months.