FORAGE FOR FOWL

Consider these three cool-season forages as you plant your pasture with free-range poultry in mind.

- LISA MUNNIKSMA

While there's no such thing as "grass-fed poultry," there is such a thing as chickens that feed on grass. More specifically, chickens feed on the seeds, grubs and insects they find in the grass, but they do consume a bit of the grass itself, too. (A quick chicken anatomy lesson: These birds are monogastric, meaning they have one stomach that is not designed to ferment and digest forages the way ruminants, such as cattle and sheep, are able to.)

“Poultry will consume up to 30% of their body weight in forage when it is available,” according to the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture, based in Oklahoma. Knowing what the chickens are really after in their forages helps you to plant forage types that are most beneficial to them.

Try out some of these grasses and legumes for your pasture-raised poultry flock.

1. KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS

WHAT IT IS: A cool-season, perennial grass that grows well in the central and northern U.S.

WHY IT’S GOOD FOR CHICKENS: “Kentucky in managed pastures,” according to the PennState Extension, meaning it’s at prime chicken height.