Show us your nest boxes! Ingenous design post it here!

[10 point]

Quote:
I think it's around four hens to one box, so four or five will do. we have fourteen hens and they only use 2 of the 5 boxes we have out with most of them using only one.

 

[stowellka]

is this what they mean when they say three to four hens per nestbox

 

[glisson_family_farms]

best i came up with as far as nesting boxes

 

[Ridgerunner]

Quote:
The only problem I can think of is you might put your head against something you don't want to when gathering eggs.

Here is a shot of mine. I have that section in between with the slots I can pull out. That way, I can put food and water in there if I have a broody I want to isolate. I also made it where I can slide a board down in front and lock a hen in the nest.

 

[Chicklette 1]

Quote:
The only problem I can think of is you might put your head against something you don't want to when gathering eggs.

Here is a shot of mine. I have that section in between with the slots I can pull out. That way, I can put food and water in there if I have a broody I want to isolate. I also made it where I can slide a board down in front and lock a hen in the nest.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/22249_nest_boxes.jpg

Very nice set-up and I like that you can use the area however you need to. i have 2 broodies now and it is hard to keep them in their respective boxes. I never know who is sitting on what!! Not a problem since I am humoring them more that trying to have chicks. I have to build the nest boxes for the other coop so these ideas are great. Thanks

 

[wsdareme]

I used a old pressed-board cabinet that had been in the barn for years. Turned it on its side, added partitions, legs, perches, and put plastic dishpans from Walmart in as liners. Super easy to clean. It's interesting, though, that certain boxes are rarely used and others may have 5-6 eggs per day. We've ditched the hay and use shavings in the nest boxes. Much less messy and less likely to have hens with impacted crops.

 

[BoldogKennel]

You guys have some AWESOME ideas. Thank you so much for sharing!

 

[cr213636]

Those buckets look sooo cool...

I'm loving the computer cabinet/desk ones though

 

[Crazy4mypeeps]

This is our temporary nest box solution, since we have more vertical space than horizontal, I just took an old laminated shelf, and attached it to the wall, added a couple of boards to keep the wood chips in in the front, then added a perch board in front of each one for them to walk onto to get in them. I also added a couple boards at the top sloping so that they wouldn't roost on top of it and poo all over it. They seem to like it very much. I plan on building a vertical box to go on the outside of the coop, with door access in the back, but this works for now.

 

[crawfordmama]

I love seeing everyone's great ideas!

My girls are very particular about where they lay. My FIL gave me two nice nest boxes for Mother's Day, but the girls prefer the old over-sized milk crates. They fight over the one milk crate I left in the coop, and cram themselves into it two at a time despite the other empty boxes. Silly chickens.