Grazing box for my girls

[TexasChick47]

I'm planning to put in a grazing box in the run for my young ladies. Any recommendations for what kind of grass to plant and where to get SMALL quantities? Chewy.com has an indoor grass growing "box" for cats, dogs, pet birds etc. Can I scatter that seed in my grazing box? Suggestions, please.

 

[trumpeting_angel]

Gosh, grass seed comes in such huge quantities. Maybe ask around and see if anyone has some untreated grass seed?

 

[SurferchickinSB]

I'm planning to put in a grazing box in the run for my young ladies. Any recommendations for what kind of grass to plant and where to get SMALL quantities? Chewy.com has an indoor grass growing "box" for cats, dogs, pet birds etc. Can I scatter that seed in my grazing box? Suggestions, please.

I buy all my sprouting seeds from True Leaf Marketplace. They have great deals on GMO free organic seeds for sprouting. I grow all kinds of stuff for my girls. The seeds are super reasonable. I think if you are doing grazing boxes, Wheat grass grows really well in those and they just peck off the tops and the grass continues to grow.

 

[TexasChick47]

Gosh, grass seed comes in such huge quantities. Maybe ask around and see if anyone has some untreated grass seed?

Thanks. Untreated is the way to go, for sure.

 

[TexasChick47]

I buy all my sprouting seeds from True Leaf Marketplace. They have great deals on GMO free organic seeds for sprouting. I grow all kinds of stuff for my girls. The seeds are super reasonable. I think if you are doing grazing boxes, Wheat grass grows really well in those and they just peck off the tops and the grass continues to grow.

Will check into True Leaf Marketplace, thanks.

 

[SurferchickinSB]

Will check into True Leaf Marketplace, thanks.

I love that place! I sprout all kinds of stuff. They have every kind of seed you can imagine and for a good price!

 

[jthornton]

I use wheat feed from the farm supply store. $8 for 50 pounds...

JT

 

[aart]

I would not use turf('lawn') grass...most are treated with x-cides.

Ideas for building grazing frames:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/grazing-frames.73645/

 

[jthornton]

Here are the latest grass boxes I've built, they are made from 2x6 with a 1x2 cap on top. I made them 24" wide and 12" deep so I only had to trim off 1' pieces of coated HC.




some of the crew coming to investigate what daddy is doing.


and of course Monique had to come over too and see if I had anything special for her.


JT

 

[jlwquilter]

Here is a picture that also shows my first attempt at a grazing ‘box’. DH garbage picked a mud mixer that already had several drain holes in it for some reason. So I filled it with growing soil and planted perennial rye grass about 10-14 days ago. It’s well sprouted along with some random weeds. The cover is closet shelving racks we uh, garbage picked. The girls check it out every day now waiting for the grass to get high enough to nip at.

I just ordered some wheat grass and will make another grazing bed with that.

I still have a lot of grass in the run but I know that won’t last forever so I’m trying to get a jump on replacing greenery by doing this. Also trying to get more variety into their diet.

I like the idea to make the size of the frames fit hardware cloth or whatever cover to be used. Seems simple but I’m not sure I’d have thought to do that!