What to Plant for Rabbit and Chicken Pasture?

[joy]

Hey there,

I'm new here, but have been keeping backyard rabbits (and chickens, and worms, etc) for over a year now. We've done a little bit of pasturing but it hasn't been really practical for us yet. We have a 1/4 acre lot, and the back 1/8th acre is shaded by several maple trees in the summer, and quite dry all year due to the roots. The chickens were loose on it for the past few months and so it's quite mowed down at the moment. I've been thinking of planting some appropriate forage out there so we could tractor our rabbits and chickens on it.

Does anyone have recommendations for a specific seed mix (like one of those eco-lawns) or simply crop recommendations that would grow well and be healthy for both rabbits and chickens? We do feed pellets and hay and would continue to, but I'd like them to have something good to graze on.

Thanks!
Joy

 

[Hen_House_Rocks!]

I don't know about the bunnies, but my chickens love clover. It's easy to grow and pretty much indestructible once it is established.

 

[Catalina]

This was a question I had too. I was thinking about planting a small patch of timothy hay. Is that a good idea?

 

[nicktide]

The best info I can find on rabbit feeding comes from books, magazines and websites that are intended for meat rabbit farmers. Farmers are do it your selfers and operate on a small profit margin.

I would recommend comfrey and jerusalem artichoke aka sunchoke. I am just starting with these but seem to be the answer for many backyard "farmers".

The comfrey is hard to get but if you check ebay you can probably find some in the spring. It's a perenial and chickend and ducks love it. For rabbits, you need to let it wilt first.

The sunchoke is actually a perenial sunflower that gets very tall. It is raised for its root but its' greens are great for rabbits with a high protein content. I read it had like 18% protein. When mine get going, I am planning on eating the roots and feeding the tops.

As for tractoring them... I guess clover and possibly planting some winter rye in the fall and pasturing them on it in the spring before the clover gets going. just keep in mind that any drastic change in diet can cause problems so introduce a little of the forage crop before setting them out.