Here's an abundant
thread on
perennial feed.
https://permies.com/t/997/chickens/perennial-chicken-feed
I'd suspect that in shade, you end up with plants that are energetically conservative and so minimize protein production in general, and so a focus for
chicken forage would be developing a rich deep litter layer full of rotting organic matter that feeds bugs that are lovely packets of fatty protein. In a small system,
chickens will rip up a small run pretty quick. As always, details about your home climate make suggestions more reliable.
EDIT - another thought... the post says the
chickens are in the shady corner of the yard, what can I plant there? The broader question could be, I want to have chickens living in this habitat I am creating... what is the best way to integrate them? I have paddocks and a deep litter area, and am thinking of getting some electro
fence, just so I can move my chickens around more. I have a food forest that is rich in insects and woody debris that might benefit from an annual chicken distrubance/manure input, maybe right before spring or fall seed germination. A lot of biomass moves through my chicken system, and chicken feed is a major system input, that trickles through their manure into other systems. Sorry to drag the question through the bushes...