I put up with a lot letting my 3 chickens free range my large backyard. They make a mess out of all my bark beds, there are chicken "pot holes" everywhere, and I'm on constant poop patrol to keep the area relatively safe for kids to run around in. I've learned to live with all that. But really, with a large, lush lawn, and their freedom to graze anywhere, must they only eat the grass in a few spots, until it's bare dirt? It gets muddy there, and pretty soon weeds will probably come up where the grass has been picked so thin. I don't like the chicken tractor idea, because it seems so confining (plus I'd have to put a nest box in there, because they all lay at different times of the day). I've now got them penned up most of the day (they've got about 100 sq ft, but no lawn access), hoping that the grass will come back, but as soon as I let them out, they go to pick at the same spot!