New rollout nest design Picture heavy-edited 1/21

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I just built one of these following the plans but adapting it for four nesting boxes rather than six. I also added hinges to the partition behind the nesting boxes. Our nesting boxes are difficult to access from the front due to the design of our coop so this allows us to access them from the back (and spy on the chickens!). We use a peg to hold the partition in place and it can be pulled back to lift them.
 

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New to Backyard Chickens. Someone posting in this thread seemed to be from Leduc, AB, Canada. I am about 7 hours NW of there, where the Alaska Highway begins (Dawson Creek, BC, Canada).

This thread is just hitting 34 pages, and I read all of them. One person posted pictures from sketchup. Those can be like drafting images. Lately, I like to do work in SVG, and I can make pictures at 1 pixel per inch, 1 pixel per mm, or whatever seems reasonable. I have no idea if BYC likes SVG for images, or if most people on BYC can view SVG.

It's too bad that Opa seemed to have developed health issues, and stopped posting in about Sep 2016. Being exposed to chronic dust can cause health issues (so chickens can be a problem). Being around smoke can also cause problems, and someone in this thread posted a link to Opa's smoker.

One person had problems with rot and delamination. Durable wood design suggests that you never build a wood project which can trap water at a corner, or that is level. A slope of 1/4 inch in 3.5 inches (the width of a standard 2x4) is usually enough. Caulking (especially paintable caulking) can help with places where two wood surfaces meet. Any kind of coating is good, but coatings that keep UV off the wood are better. It may be boring, but perhaps the best paint for exteriors is either a paint which is white from titanium dioxide (there are 2 different kinds, both are white) or zinc oxide.

Some whites are better than others, likewise some blacks are better than others. Having a dark paint inside the nest box is good. I would say that using a black paint inside where the eggs collect is something to do. If you want curtains for where the eggs passes into this area, I think sheet rubber from inner tubes (sliced into multiple curtains) makes a lot of sense. Then put your nest pad on top of the black painted surface.

It is possible that Opa's preferred nest pad had a preferred direction. But just having the nest pad on a sloped surface, will tend to give it a preferred direction. You could probably introduce a preferred direction by putting a flat heavy object onto the nest pad carefully, and pushing it in a specific direction while lowering it. This should bend everything a little to provide a preferred direction. It might damage the nesting pad, so try it before committing to do all your pads this way.

Someone mentioned a bunch of things to stop birds from pecking eggs - I expect there are threads specifically on this. But birds seem to lack the chemoreceptors for things like capsaicin or the sulfur compounds in cabbage related plants like mustard or horseradish.

If people here have some electronics capability, Arduino can help (and is very affordable). I believe PrecisionMicroDrives (.com? .co.uk?) has a page on how to use Arduino to drive a vibration motor. You could program the Arduino to only work a small fraction of a day, and to use a specific frequency (rotation rate) for the motor. You might need to look for the slope of a nest box floor being too great, if you are adding vibration to it.

I ran across this thread, in looking for ideas for a chicken tractor I am building. Most chicken tractors seem to be of the SPF variety (Spruce/Pine/Fir construction lumber). What I am thinking of is foam core, baltic birch (3mm) skinned, glass/epoxy wrapped. Probably weighs about 20% of a typical SPF construction. I can include things like white pigments or black pigments in the final coat of epoxy, to make things black or white. And the cured epoxy is very inert. You could use epoxy paint for a similar effect.

That notwithstanding, for outdoor (white) surfaces, it is better yet to put a coat of a UV stable, white polyurethane paint on top of the white epoxy surface. Urethanes can have better UV properties than most epoxies.

Going back to Opa's smoker. He used what I think is an expensive temperature controller. There are a bunch of manufacturers in the far east who make clones of MH1210. And I think the original manufacturer is from China. I've used a MH1210 for a box to germinate seed in, to control IR emitters on the ceiling of the box (I use Inkbird to control the 3 heating mats on the bottom).
 
Would this work fine if you went closer to 3"? Just worried about the chickens thinking its not comfy if its too sloped.
 
Many of you have gotten my plans for a 2 unit rollout nest box and I have talked with several others about how to modify the plan to make it even larger. I have been using a box that has 6 nests and for the past year it has worked beautifully. Recently I have noticed several birds trying to pull eggs back inside their nest and even though it's hard to believe that they can reach under the partition to get the eggs, several birds have managed it and have turned into egg eaters. After much thought I have redesigned the nest box so that the eggs travel much further and hopefully this will eliminate their ability to get their head and neck far enough under the partition to reach the eggs.

The nest box shell view from chickens entrance side with partitions installed

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Nest box shell view from access side

10233_new_nest_002.jpg


Egg ramp platform slotted to fit around partitions

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Wedges to hold egg ramp 3 1/2" high

10233_new_nest_005.jpg


Egg ramp installed

10233_new_nest_006.jpg


Nestpads installed requires 2 per nest

10233_new_nest_007.jpg


View from nest to access area showing bumper (1/2" foam pipe cover split)

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View showing bumper

10233_new_nest_003-1.jpg


Access side with back partitions installed with 2 1/4 gap above ramp

10233_new_nest_008.jpg


Nest entrance view with front installed edges of plywood trimmed

10233_new_nest_011.jpg


Where the previous design has a 12" ramp and the eggs were close to the partition sitting in a 4" tray section, the new ramp is 24" and the eggs wind up sitting 10" from the back partition. I've added a curtain to further discourage the birds from reaching under back partition. The curtain is made from rubber that I've slit.

10233_new_nest_001-1.jpg


10233_new_nest_002-1.jpg


Material list

2 sides - 3/4x24x36 2 bottoms - 3/4x24x36 1 top - 3/4x24x37 ½ Note: these pieces can be cut form one sheet of plywood
4 partitions - 3/4x14x17 ½ 2 ramp platforms - 1/4x24x36
12 ramp wedges - 3/4x3 1/2x24 cut tapering to 0
2 back stops - 3/4x3 1/2x37 ½ 1 bottom nest front - 3/4x5 ½ x37 1/2
1 top nest front - 3/4x7 1/4x37 ½ 2 back partitions - 1/4x14x36
2 trim board for edge of ply at top - 3/4x1 1/2x37 1/2
10? ¾ x ¾ use to cap plywood between nest fronts and access side back stops
3? ½ foam pipe insulation cut in half for bumpers
2 pieces of 4? rubber for curtain trap rubber between 2 pieces of 3/8x3/4x36 stapled together
Thank you! What’s that on the bottom of the nest box? Grey artificial turf?
 

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