Chicken Grazing Box

The very first time I ever heard of a chicken grazing box was on Backyard Chickens and I immediately knew that this was another great item that I had to add to our chicken run!

Thankfully this was a super easy item to build and only took a few minutes to put together.  For our grazing box we just used regular 2 x 4 boards (you could use treated lumber if you like) to make the frame.  We supported the center of the frame with a board for extra support of the wire.  The frame is then covered on one side with chicken wire and the wire is held in place with fencing staples (I think that is what they are called).  Easy peasy!

But why do you need a grazing box?  Well, since our chickens need to be fenced in a run the grass in the run will eventually be dug up by our chickens.  Our girls have only been in the run for about a month and you can already see areas of brown grass.  But the area protected by the grazing box is still nice and green.  The girls graze across the grass that grows through the wire.  And they are able to reach down through the chicken wire a bit for some tasty tidbits.  But they can't scratch up the roots and kill the grass.  At this point I haven't added any other types of seeds but we may do a second grazing box next spring with other types of greens. 

Our girls sure make a bee line to the grazing box every morning when I let them into the coop.  

Do you have a grazing box for your chickens?  Do you plant other types of seeds?  I would love to hear your stories and see your pictures.