Roll Away Nesting Boxes?

[GuineaLady93]

Does anyone here have roll away nesting boxes in their coop? How do you like them and how have they worked for you? Worth the extra money? Thanks in advance!

 

[neo71665]

I like them and they work fine. Not sure about the money as I built mine. Wouldn't have been any difference in cost to build one style or the other.

 

[Rise722]

I'm building one for my coop, as I can't seem to find the right place to put in on a wall.

 

[neo71665]

Mine are kinda built backwards. The box is inside the coop but the eggs roll out through the wall and I gather them outside. Don't have to enter the coop and worry about getting chicken crap on my feet.

 

[Happy Novogens]

I like them and they work fine. Not sure about the money as I built mine. Wouldn't have been any difference in cost to build one style or the other.

Mine are kinda built backwards. The box is inside the coop but the eggs roll out through the wall and I gather them outside. Don't have to enter the coop and worry about getting chicken crap on my feet.

What do you have for the "bedding" inside the nestbox?

I also built some rollaway nestboxes (with the collection area outside the run). I put artificial grass down but am wondering if that was a bad choice. I have pullets that should be laying anytime now and I'm doubting whether they will use the boxes because of the turf.

I'm reading how much they like straw or rafia or soft stuff, but that, it seems, would prevent the eggs from rolling back.

 

[Rise722]

I'm just putting a plastic tub (with hen-sized holes in it) on top of a piece of plywood which has casters under it...can roll wherever I like.

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

I'm just putting a plastic tub (with hen-sized holes in it) on top of a piece of plywood which has casters under it...can roll wherever I like.

? Can’t tell if this is sarcasm.

 

[Happy Novogens]

I'm just putting a plastic tub (with hen-sized holes in it) on top of a piece of plywood which has casters under it...can roll wherever I like.

? Can’t tell if this is sarcasm.

Me either. I was actually referring to stationary boxes where the eggs roll back (roll away) to a separate compartment.

 

[blessedflockmama]

We have roll away nesting boxes... at first they would not lay in them. Definitely not cozy for the chickens.

So we added golf balls and ceramic eggs and used wood shavings to prop them up and not roll away. I think glueing something to the fake eggs to keep them from rolling would be wise. The chickens still didn't buy in. So we resorted to using wood shavings and ceramic eggs and they complied instantly... Which totally defeated the roll away concept.

But on the up side, it is winter so I though, less chance of eggs freezing if they are sitting on them. So, what's the harm in letting them get thoroughly trained to lay only there?

Fast forward. Our next batch of pullets just starting to lay. A broken egg and a chicken fiesta ensuing. We pulled out all the shavings to see what would happen.

The girls who have been laying there for a while initially laid eggs in the box still, for 2 days it was lovely. Then someone decided that laying under the roost (uck) was the place to be... We do deep litter so lots of fluffy, albeit dirty wood shavings proved to be too enticing. I found one of my original layers setting on 3 small dirty eggs and relocated her immediately to the nesting boxes...

So back in went wood shavings and vigilant surveillance for the next 24 hours. I do find great comfort that I can try this again in the future but will likely put it off until my new layers are well established in their routines.

Hopefully by then we get our coop over to it's permanent site and then sand litter becomes a better option. I think that will be far less appealing than the litter we have now.

Those two days of collecting clean eggs from the lovely roll outs were great. I am thinking keeping fake eggs in there secured down somehow will seal the deal but just haven't quite figured out the logistics yet to how to attach them to the plastic roll away mats.

Ours came with roosts that can fold up and lock the chickens out of the nesting boxes to keep them from roosting. I do really like that feature as it was easy to deter the one or 2 chickens who considered taking up overnight residence. The lower box is their favorite laying spot so this was super simple. Just close up the upper one over night and the behavior stopped within 2 days.

 

[Happy Novogens]

We have roll away nesting boxes... at first they would not lay in them. Definitely not cozy for the chickens.

So we added golf balls and ceramic eggs and used wood shavings to prop them up and not roll away. I think glueing something to the fake eggs to keep them from rolling would be wise. The chickens still didn't buy in. So we resorted to using wood shavings and ceramic eggs and they complied instantly... Which totally defeated the roll away concept.

But on the up side, it is winter so I though, less chance of eggs freezing if they are sitting on them. So, what's the harm in letting them get thoroughly trained to lay only there?

Fast forward. Our next batch of pullets just starting to lay. A broken egg and a chicken fiesta ensuing. We pulled out all the shavings to see what would happen.

The girls who have been laying there for a while initially laid eggs in the box still, for 2 days it was lovely. Then someone decided that laying under the roost (uck) was the place to be... We do deep litter so lots of fluffy, albeit dirty wood shavings proved to be too enticing. I found one of my original layers setting on 3 small dirty eggs and relocated her immediately to the nesting boxes...

So back in went wood shavings and vigilant surveillance for the next 24 hours. I do find great comfort that I can try this again in the future but will likely put it off until my new layers are well established in their routines.

Hopefully by then we get our coop over to it's permanent site and then sand litter becomes a better option. I think that will be far less appealing than the litter we have now.

Those two days of collecting clean eggs from the lovely roll outs were great. I am thinking keeping fake eggs in there secured down somehow will seal the deal but just haven't quite figured out the logistics yet to how to attach them to the plastic roll away mats.

Ours came with roosts that can fold up and lock the chickens out of the nesting boxes to keep them from roosting. I do really like that feature as it was easy to deter the one or 2 chickens who considered taking up overnight residence. The lower box is their favorite laying spot so this was super simple. Just close up the upper one over night and the behavior stopped within 2 days.

Do you have a photo of your nestboxes?