Our new (to us) backyard is bare dirt. It's winter but we're in zone 9 (b I think) so a few nights of frost now and then is about all we get. (I have some new grass sprouting in other areas of the property.) Is there a ground cover and/or some plants that we can get going for our chickens and rabbit to munch on? Right now their run is on the bare dirt.
I keep plenty of compost in there, give scraps, and they seem happy and healthy. But obviously I want something green for them ASAP. Their run is made so that I can move it; I can plant the area next to them. I want to have a big perennial food wonderland in the end, but I'm open to anything that makes the animals happy at this point. I just discovered permaculture and am loving all this new research. But this sad yard needs some ground cover yesterday.
We have four bantams (about 3 months old) and a dwarf rabbit (about a year old I was told). For now they are just compost machines so no special diet requirements. Their current area, where I'll start (after moving them), is nice and poopy/composty and it's about 50*F out right now. Any kind of plants they can eat but ground cover especially are what I'm looking for, the faster-growing the better. We have lots and LOTS of clover in the front yard, so should I just try transplanting some of that? I did one little spot elsewhere to test and it's clinging but I'm not familiar with it enough to be sure it will live.
Thanks for your help!
