New Direction for our flock

[CandeeLand]

Good morning all,

We're taking our flock in a new direction.

We were free ranging daily and now we've had to enclose them into their very large run/enclosure, due to a fox attack. I'm wanting to start sprouting some seeds for them, but I'm unsure of the best ones to sprout (alfalfa, clover, etc). We will be making an additional large (10'x13') chicken run, that will be attached to their current run, to give them a "grassy" area, where they could come/go through a "tunnel" for food, water & nesting box.
Any guidance/suggestions as to what to sprout/plant for these girls would be greatly appreciated.

The one that was attacked seems to be doing well. She went through a stressful molt just days afterwards and has now regrown almost all of her feathers back. She had little to no physical damage on the outside that we could find. I believe the fox just barely got her and we were quick to react (30 seconds literally) and chase it off.

Thank you in advance for your knowledge & wisdom you're willing to share. Have a wonderful weekend!

 

[ChaosMom]

Very glad to hear that your girl came through ok!

It sounds like you have a lot of land available (I’m so jealous!) Chickens will wipe out grassy areas in no time at all.

Is there any way that you can block out multiple small runs with tunnel attachments to the main one? If so, you could do rotational grazing, so to speak, although you most likely won’t be able to keep ahead of a determined flock.

Another thing you might try (in addition) is building long and narrow forage boxes with hardware cloth over the top. Fill with soil to an inch or two below the HWC and plant different types of seed (wheat, clovers, grasses, herbs). Ideally, the chickens will eat the tops of the seedlings coming through the HWC, but the roots will remain intact, allowing the plants to keep growing.