Are you planning to build a grazing box for your backyard chickens? If yes, you are at the right place to know how to build it for your chickens which doesn’t cost you tons of money. As a homesteader, you might know that chicken needs boredom busters so they don’t start fighting and picking each other’s feathers.
Building grazing box for herbs and healthy greens will help you to reduce unnecessary stress in your flock and give them constructive and healthy hobby for chickens. The main advantage of having grazing box is that as the herbs grow through it, your chickens can eat them and can’t devastate or scratch them from roots.
Let’s see how to build a grazing box for your flock within our budget.
Things You Need To Build Grazing Box:
- One 2x6x10 heat treated board which should be cut in to 2’6’’ pieces.
- 1 inch hardware cloth
- Finishing nails or staples
- Hammer and screw driver
- Wire cutters
- Seeds of herbs or green you wanted to grow
- Compost manure or well rich good soil
Building Grazing Box For Your Backyard Chickens:
If you have lot of chickens, then you need to build a larger box. This design can be smaller or larger as you wish.
- Firstly, take the wood and cut in to 2’6’’ long and screw them together. Use heat treated wood that hasn’t been exposed to chemicals so that your chickens stay safe while snaking.
- Screw the wooden cut pieces to form a box and make sure the pieces were secured together.
- If you use thinner wood, the box won’t be sturdy. Better to stick with 2×6 sizes.
- Now, take hardware cloth to the box and attach it by using staples or finishing nails. Ensure that the hardware cloth is completely secured to protect your herbs and greens when growing.
- Cut the hardware cloth and tamp them down using hammer so your chickens won’t get cut on sharp edge.
Choose The Spot:
Ideally, many people love to keep them in the coop before building, so that they will get an idea of how big to make it. But, if you’re one of those persons who tend to make stuff before figuring out where to put it, just measure 2’6 by 2’6 square in your coop to give your chickens an easy access.
Choose the spot where it drains well and doesn’t flood and place it near a water source. Before placing it in your coop, amend the area which helps to encourage the growth of greens and herbs.
Add well rich soil or compost manure to the area and then plant seeds. It takes few weeks before the greens are large enough to eat, once they’re established your hens will have great treat regularly.
What To Grow In Grazing Box:
Once you created grazing box, below are some herbs and greens to start!
- Oregano
- Sage
- Calendula
- Garlic
- Wheat grass
- Barley grass
- Alfalfa grass
- Kale
- Mustard and other greens
Try growing them in your grazing box for your chickens and see how healthy they become.