Can I raise alfalfa in the chicken yard after the chickens move?

Even if you were planting alfalfa seeds, it would be a waste.

That chicken yard is very heavily manured with nitrogenous fertiliser. It would be a waste to plant any legume, since the virtue of leguminous plants is that they provide their own nitrogen. Ideally you should be planting something that needs heaps of nitrogen, and doesn't provide its own. For chickens, grain is good. If your growing season supports it, milo (grain sorghum) would be ideal for chickens, or maybe sunflowers, or a mix of both. Maybe millet. Perhaps throw in some buckwheat or cereals as an under-crop. Later in the season broadcast some kale for green pick. Note that lush young green sorghum growth can poison some livestock by making cyanide compounds too readily available - I don't know whether that applies to poultry, answering those sort of questions is why God gave you agricultural extension officers. Your chicken yard would give maize corn ideal growing conditions, but maize should ideally be cracked before it is fed to chickens.

I really can't see much use in alfalfa for poultry. However, if you want to sow some legumes for them you could do it outside and beside the old chicken yard. Just broadcast some mung or adzuki beans and scratch them in with a rake - the seed size is just about ideal for chickens, the foliage would give them greens, and you can get your seed from just about any Asian or health food store.

http://www.hearneseed.com/store.php?pg1-cid38.html

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Alfalfa is very slow to establish. The alfalfa would have to be growing for a year before you could even think of letting the chickens at it and even then they would kill it off in a short time unless it was a very large enclosure.

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Libertarindependent

I had in mind cutting the odd armfull and throwing it into the chicken run. There are now too many predators to let them out, I am afraid!

Yes, in this case it would work. There are other more productive options though, depending on how much time and effort you want to expend. I would plant a garden in the spot, get all kinds of good veggies, and give the excess to the birds.

__________________
Flaming Xtian
I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.
Mahatma Gandhi


Libertarindependent

Speaking of which, the spring winds are bad and people have mentioned a nurse crop. Do you think that a row or 2 of sweet corn would work?

I'd plant the whole thing in sweet corn and share with the chickens. Throw the green stalk to the birds as soon as you pick the corn.

__________________
Flaming Xtian
I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.
Mahatma Gandhi


Libertarindependent