Is this nest box opening big enough?

[R Wind]

Since we couldn't get to the big box stores yesterday, we built a nest box instead. The result is that the opening for the chickens from the coop is only 9" high.

I can cut it down (enlarge it ) when I trim out the inside. Do I need to? We have Rhode Island Reds.

Oh yes, and how much should I neck down the entrances side-to-side -- I can trim it so the openings are narrower?

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Details: We used materials on hand.

• an old 32" square pallet cut in two across the "joists of the pallet" and flipped for the entrance wall and the opposite wall, forming a case structure;
• a 30yo leftover piece of 3/4" ply for side/bottom/front door panels; and
• some old oak fence boards for a roof understructure. All old stuff.

Photos attached, though I didn't get interior photos, just finished ones.

So as we developed the coop, step by step, we ended up putting an old pallet or fence board across as support for the entrance for the chickens, and it was higher (a wider board) than I realized. The opening is only 9" tall. Is this enough?

The whole coop was constructed as a unit. Then we used a cardboard template based on the entrance wall side of the constructed nest box to mark where we needed to remove battens from the siding and then cut holes through the coop wall for the entrance. (The coop wall is made of old 6ft tall fence sections, so the nest box is screwed in between two horizontal "fence rails, the bottom rail and the middle rail of a three-rail fence. ) This made it a lot easier to hold the nest box up and screw it into the wall. We reinforced just the upper screws holding the weight with a 3/4" strip of leftover ply on the inside wall, across the top of the nest box. Will go back and finish trimming the inside today.



Hit lists always are a lot longer than you'd think. Will have to:

• --flash and roof it with either leftover shingles or a piece of metal;
• 
  
• --find hinges and latch today. (Meanwhile, for overnight, we just screwed in the front drop panel/door for security.)
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• -- We fitted in two big paint tray liners in the bottom, just flat, and threw some pine shavings in to catch any poop if they explored last night, but we'll fix up the interior and add a proper partition between the two boxes. I have straw but we thought we'd try the indoor outdoor carpet type surface.
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• -- Inside, finish trimming out the opening. I can increase the height and neck down the opening if you think we should.
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• --Probably need to raise the roost a bit and cover the rear window under the lean-to if so as we think the chickens are already showing an avoidance at night to the center window, scooching 3 hens on each side and leaving the window open when we looked, so we got the window too low. Tried to put a trail camera in there to verify but it doesn't have a wide enough lens to catch them. I think I have a piece of plexiglas, will see if we have one wide enough to lay across the bottom of the window, because they like looking out that window. If not, cardboard for now to raise the bottom sill. (Thanks for someone showing that in a previous post.)

 

[Poppy Putentake]

Too small? If anything, too big.

The ones I have made are maybe 7.5-8" high and 9-10" wide, and that's with widely rounded corners and sometimes the top narrower. My birds are regular breeds and run up to 7 lbs, and they have no trouble getting in and out. I've seen even smaller.

A frequent poster here (aart) favors 10" diameter circles. {Pictures}

Hens like to lay in sort of a little dark cave. I suspect that in the wild, they often used hollow fallen logs.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

I would just leave it and see how it goes. If your chickens start to use it and have no issues getting in/out it’s good. If you start to notice them having trouble getting turned around/stuck then make it bigger.

 

[R Wind]

Thank you both replies, I just did not know if they would care for only 9" tall.

I am planning to narrow each opening down, from side to side, by adding a center/vertical trim board in the middle when we finish trimming it out and add a partition wall.

(So far we've only put the trim piece across the top, just enough to give it extra reinforcement to screw into.)

I don't think they'll have trouble turning around inside the box itself because the boxes inside are both deeper and taller. [ Hmm, never hit send.]

 

[21hens-incharge]

Is the whole height 9"?

Mine prefer the nests with 15" height. I have a few at 18" but most eggs are in the 15" ones. They actually stand up as the egg is being expelled. Just something to keep in mind.

 

[Shadrach]

As 21hens-incharge points out, the hens semi stand to deliver the egg so while the opening is fine the height of the box needs to be high enough to allow for this.

 

[R Wind]

Is the whole height 9"?

The opening is 9" tall (smaller than I'd intended) - I could widen or round it to widen at the bottom lip most easily. The horizontal opening is about 12" on each side currently? We left some of the wall on the left and right instead of cutting it out. I could narrow it down by inserting a piece of trim board over the center "stud". Not sure how much to close the opening up side to side or how much to open up the height of the opening if necessary. Guess I need to experiment as someone said.

I thought I had enough room inside. Inside the box is 16" tall at the coop side entrance. Height is sloping over 16" to 14" at the back wall. If I make a sloped bottom, that front height available will be a bit less.

 

[aart]

The 9" tall opening should be fine.

 

[R Wind]

...I've seen even smaller.

A frequent poster here (aart) favors 10" diameter circles. {Pictures}

It was the12" diam buckets and 10" diameter holes that made me think I might be too small at 9" tall. The post on "even smaller" is really helpful. I'll not worry about sloping up my bottom to the front, and we'll be watching for signs that we need to change the interiors as well as the openings.

Our 6 hens are not laying yet. Gotta give them that extra run space -- I think they're stressed from being cooped up with only a 50sq ft coop and a 2x12' temp run outside; feeling very guilty about it. Would have prioritized the run over the nest boxes but didn't have materials on Easter Sunday, so just went ahead with nest box rather than buckets. Planning to make the run pieces modular so we can adapt them, change things around as we learn.

 

[21hens-incharge]

The opening is 9" tall (smaller than I'd intended) - I could widen or round it to widen at the bottom lip most easily. The horizontal opening is about 12" on each side currently? We left some of the wall on the left and right instead of cutting it out. I could narrow it down by inserting a piece of trim board over the center "stud". Not sure how much to close the opening up side to side or how much to open up the height of the opening if necessary. Guess I need to experiment as someone said.
View attachment 3463259

I thought I had enough room inside. Inside the box is 16" tall at the coop side entrance. Height is sloping over 16" to 14" at the back wall. If I make a sloped bottom, that front height available will be a bit less.

View attachment 3463262

That cleared up my confusion. Yup I agree that 9" opening should do just fine.