We grow two years of vegetables then take a break for a year to grow pasture and run our chickens over it. The chickens eat the grass and grains we feed them. At the end of the year we break up the pasture and prepare beds into which we plant the vegetables. We do have to manage the pasture which we do with the mower. We do not want any of the grasses going to seed or we could have a terrible weed problem in the following vegetable crops. Mowing also controls weeds in the pasture allowing the grasses and clover to take over. The chickens are also quite fussy, they do not like anything taller than about 5 inches. We move the chicken houses all over the pasture ensuring that there is an even distribution of fertility.