Nesting box ideas - DIY or bought

[Amyloumomof2]

My oldest gals are getting to be close to 15 weeks, so I've started to consider how to make or which ones to buy. I have 10 girls, so was thinking about 3 boxes. Have ideas or pictures of items you've used to make nesting boxes? Bought some you absolutely love and don't mind telling me about. Share with me, please!! .

 

[Frindizzle]

I have nests made out of hardware cloth. It seems to work well.

 

[eggciting eggs]

I have 7 chickens and 3 of these Miller Manufacturing 163620 Single Chicken Nesting Box for Birds you can find them for about $25 on amazon, they're a bit pricey but totally worth it!! My hens love these, I attached them onto the wall about 2ft off the ground (so predators can't get to them) they are super easy to clean. Plus you don't have to worry about bacteria when an egg cracks like you do with wooden nest boxes. Another great thing is the hens have a place to perch before entering the nesting box. I absolutely love these nesting boxes.

 

[Fluttering-about]

We just put up a four inch high separation from the main part of the coop and my clever girls did what chickens do and made themselves a nest. At first we were vigilant about "egg hunting" the back yard in case there was a hidden nest somewhere. Once I noticed that Noodle, (my sweet Orpington ), had started gathering pine needles in one area of the yard, so I just put the needles in the laying area of the coop, added a ceramic egg and two weeks later we had our first egg! Shortly after my other two followed suit and started paying rent as well.
My neighbor has raised chickens all of her life, and she keeps telling me, "they are just chickens, they will do their chicken stuff with out all of this fancy stuff."

 

[CapricornFarm]

I made this nest box from a used drawer i bought.

 

[Welshies]

Anything can work. Tubs, milk crates, cardboard boxes, dog kennels, scrap wood, pallets, store-boughten ones, I've seen milk jugs used for bantams.
Make sure your nest boxes are below your roosts!

 

[Johnny98]

These work great for us, from Sex-Links to Bantams.

Small enough that they wont spend anymore time in them than necessary but big enough for them to get the job done each and every time.