Fast growing hardy plants for chickens

[jk47]

My soil is sandy and dry and I want something that once started can survive with very little water and can be cut back and. Regrow and grow in huge clumps and can be feed to chickens in huge amounts is there a plant that I can grow that fits or somewhat fits that description

 

[chooks4life]

Depends on the soil. It's dry and sandy, we see, but what's the composition? The nutrients etc in it will dictate what will grow and what won't. In dry, poor soil, not necessarily sandy, fat hen grows fairly quickly and the chickens and turkeys and geese loved that. But they did eradicate the few clumps we had over the years, though a couple of clumps per hundreds of birds isn't a fair match.

I really recommend you look into biochar farming. Burning an old log in a pit or other mostly-enclosed space, so it doesn't release all the goodies in smoke, and sprinkling the resulting char over plain desert sand or any poor soil can grow the biggest, lushest crops you've ever seen.

There are a few plants that might fit the description you're after but since we don't know the exact soil composition it may be best to get a test, which supposedly isn't very expensive at all, or try a bunch of different plants and see what thrives.

Maybe someone in your area has some more localized and applicable knowledge on this. Whereabouts are you?

Best wishes.

 

[realsis]

I use a seed mix that grows fast and is fairly drought tolerant. Its a omega 3 blend from peaceful valley. Its all organic and composed of grasses and clover and the chickens love it! Just go to peaceful valley web site and search chicken blend. Only thing is it does need to be reseeded. But at about 3dollars a bag its not bad. You can plant on land or in flats. It can be fed in larger portions as well. It is very nutritious for them too. You might consider giving this blend a try. I was very pleased with it. Hope this helps. Best wishes.