05/01/2026
There are two sides to every coin.
A little while back I talked about this miraculous volunteer grass that we have growing in our chicken pasture. It’s some sort of perennial rye grass and has been an absolutely amazing forage for the birds, especially through this super droughty spring. It has stayed lush and green after weeks of no rain and has recovered after grazing better than I ever would expect in this dry, dry weather. It continues to fill in bare areas and the chickens just love munching its soft and tender blades. This grass is amazing.
It also has the most aggressive pollen I have ever encountered.
The grass started seeding out about a month ago, and now every time we walk through this pasture, a minimum of twice a day, we’re coughing, sneezing, itching, etc.
We typically suit up with at least a bandana and some eye protection to minimize exposure and so far that, with daily allergy meds, has been mostly effective in keeping allergy symptoms to a minimum. Well yesterday, we moved the birds onto an area that hasn’t been touched this year and this grass was just waiting to release its pollen/defense mechanism on the next unsuspecting victim. I had my bandana but no eye protection because it was a cloudy day so I wasn’t wearing shades. That was a mistake. We got the birds moved and by the time we made it back up to the house my eyes were itching and burning terribly. Within a few minutes the whites of my eyeballs started to swell, followed by my eyelids. I am no stranger to this kind of treatment from my pollen filled friends, so I had antihistamine eyedrops on hand, which I applied immediately as well as some oral antihistamines. I walked around for the rest of the day feeling as bad as I looked.
What kind of farmer does that make me that the forage can take me down? 😂
Even still, I am glad to have this super grass as part of our regeneration. It’s just what our land and animals need at this point in our farm journey! Who knows what seed is just waiting in the soil for right conditions to germinate and take over as the new dominant species in the pasture, let’s hope one that’s a little less hostile 😆
Note-the pollen doesn’t seem to bother the chickens in anyway. The don’t show any signs of respiratory, eye or skin irritation, thank goodness 🙌
Also, I have recovered just fine (although I did rock sunglasses today on a rainy market day to cover the puffiness) 😊
