Best Pasture for Chickens

Putting chickens out on pasture is a popular management method for many small flock owners. The birds can freely scratch and peck over a large area, eating to their heart's content.

Jim Hermes is an extension poultry specialist at Oregon State University. He says the best pasture for chickens is one with a variety of plant species for a couple of reasons.

"Nutritionally, the value of the pasture is really tied up in the insects and in any seeds that are created by the pasture grasses," says Hermes. "The grass itself is not of particular value in a poultry diet. They will consume some of the grasses, particularly early in the season, but as you get later it's not providing very much nutrition other than the birds' ability to find insects and seeds."

Unlike other pasture-grazing animals, chickens aren't able to digest plants, because they lack the enzymes to break down the cellulose. But even though chickens don't consume much of the forage, the pasture still needs to be managed. Poultry can't move around very well when the grass is a foot-tall. Going through with the mower is one option, but Hermes recommends cattle or sheep to mow it down in a rotational grazing system.

"If you have some cattle ahead of the chickens, then the cattle will keep the grasses down a little bit, move them around, and then have the chickens follow behind," says Hermes. "They'll clean up materials that are left behind by the cattle, they'll spread everything around, they'll find all the insects and things in the manure. They'll pick up nutrients that the cattle don't digest so it's a great relationship."

Chickens also provide good nutrition for the pasture. Their manure leaves behind a healthy dose of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus.