****WIP (didnt mean to post was trying to save draft) need to add the rest of the pictures still! Will remove WIP notice when complete. This is NOT complete, comments are off until it is. Thanks!
Posting this in case anyone is wanting to build nest boxes regardless of the reason and want some ideas. Also suppose this could also be a bookshelf tutorial as well
These nest boxes are massive lol and generally not necessary for folks who have chickens that understand personal space lol you can absolutely scale the materials list and steps down if this size doesnt make sense for your set up! I made mine huge because my chickens like to pile on top of each other so I wanted there to be an absurd amount of space for them to try and get out of each other's personal space a bit haha
Here's what was there BEFORE
This is the BEFORE not the current nest or roost situation. Finished photos at bottom of article.
Below are the materials I used (this creates a 6 foot wide 4 foot tall 18 inch deep 3 row set of nest boxes.) Total cost if you already have a saw and drill is about 200 bucks
Your 4, 6 foot 18 inch deep boards are your shelves
Your 2, 4 foot 18 inch boards are your sides
The 3 panels is the backing
The 2x3s are for egg blockers and roost bars on the front (this is optional mine like to roost on the edge so I added them and dont want eggs falling)
And the 2x2s are just for support spines to prevent sagging.
I also bought one roll of 18 inch wide vinyl shelf liner to put on the shelves to make cleaning easier
1. Essentially you are are just making a rectangle with your two 4 foot boards and your 1st 2, 6 foot boards. The 4 foot boards need to be ON the 6 foot ends not INSIDE or the rest of your 6 ft shelves wont fit inside
2. Then put your 3 back panels on, they dont need to be flush against each other because your support spine 2x2s will be along those gaps on the inside, if home depot or wherever didnt cut your boards exactly 2 feet.
3. Tip it up, and cut your 8 foot 2x2 into 6 16 inch pieces for your 6 spines.
4. Use a level to put in your 2 shelves. For this 4 foot 3 shelf build thats a shelf at 16 inches and again at 32 inches. You can screw them in from yhe sides or by shelf support pegs and use those. I like the idea of the support pegs since that makes the shelf removable for cleaning
5. Secure your spines to the back wall along the gaps to prevent sagging in the middle
6. (OPTIONAL) use your hole borer to bore some ventilation at the top of each compartment. I use a 1.5 inch holer and did just a couple staggered to prevent breath build up in the winter to prevent frostbite. If it doesnt get terribly cold or terribly humid where you live this step probably isnt necessary
7. Cut your 2x3s down to 3, 6 foot boards, use 5 inch screws to secure them ***3 inch side up**** about the height of an egg up from the base of each shelf. The height of an egg so eggs dont roll out of the boxes but so you can still easily scrape shavings out of the boxes without having to shovel or scoop it out, and do the 3 inch side up because chickens prefer a wide bar to roost on this will help prevent bumblefoot and frostbite
8. Sand everything a bit dont need to go crazy just a scrap of sand paper and your hand is fine to make sure its all smooth and there's no split wood with exposed screws etc that can cause injury or splinters in the birds.
9. Optional - put in your shelf liner (you could go very fancy here and do all sorts of paint, liners, vinyls etc if you want to make it pretty haha
10. Optional - add partitions if you want the classic cube boxes, I'm leaving the top 2 shelves without partitions as they'll all pile into one cube together if I do that and the whole point of this new bigger one is for them to spread out and get off each other lol. So I only did partitions on the bottom so they'll still have private places to lay. Just secure the partitions to the 2x2 support spines. Any spare wood or plastic you have would work fine for this.
And that's it! This took about 3 hours but would probably be done faster if youre not dilly dallying like I was haha
Let me know if there are any questions or anything I should add to the article that would be helpful!
Posting this in case anyone is wanting to build nest boxes regardless of the reason and want some ideas. Also suppose this could also be a bookshelf tutorial as well
These nest boxes are massive lol and generally not necessary for folks who have chickens that understand personal space lol you can absolutely scale the materials list and steps down if this size doesnt make sense for your set up! I made mine huge because my chickens like to pile on top of each other so I wanted there to be an absurd amount of space for them to try and get out of each other's personal space a bit haha
Here's what was there BEFORE
This is the BEFORE not the current nest or roost situation. Finished photos at bottom of article.
Below are the materials I used (this creates a 6 foot wide 4 foot tall 18 inch deep 3 row set of nest boxes.) Total cost if you already have a saw and drill is about 200 bucks
- THREE EACH 2 in. x 2 in. x 8 ft. #1 Pressure-Treated Southern Pine Lumber
- FOUR EACH 21/32 in. x 18 in. x 6 ft.; Actual: 0.656 in. x 17.25 in. x 72 in. Edge-Glued Pine Panel
- ONE 1-1/2 in. Hole Dozer Bi-Metal Hole Saw with 3/8 in. Arbor & Pilot Bit
- TWO EACH Edge-Glued Panel (Common: 21/32 in. x 18 in. x 4 ft., Actual: 0.656 in. x 17.25 in. x 48 in.)
- ONE BOX #6 x 1-1/2 in. Phillips Flat Head Zinc Plated Wood Screw (100-Pack)
- TWO EACH 2 in. x 3 in. x 8 ft. #2 Select Grade Dimensional Lumber
- THREE EACH 7/16 in. x 2 ft. x 4 ft. Oriented Strand Board Project Panel
Your 4, 6 foot 18 inch deep boards are your shelves
Your 2, 4 foot 18 inch boards are your sides
The 3 panels is the backing
The 2x3s are for egg blockers and roost bars on the front (this is optional mine like to roost on the edge so I added them and dont want eggs falling)
And the 2x2s are just for support spines to prevent sagging.
I also bought one roll of 18 inch wide vinyl shelf liner to put on the shelves to make cleaning easier
1. Essentially you are are just making a rectangle with your two 4 foot boards and your 1st 2, 6 foot boards. The 4 foot boards need to be ON the 6 foot ends not INSIDE or the rest of your 6 ft shelves wont fit inside
2. Then put your 3 back panels on, they dont need to be flush against each other because your support spine 2x2s will be along those gaps on the inside, if home depot or wherever didnt cut your boards exactly 2 feet.
3. Tip it up, and cut your 8 foot 2x2 into 6 16 inch pieces for your 6 spines.
4. Use a level to put in your 2 shelves. For this 4 foot 3 shelf build thats a shelf at 16 inches and again at 32 inches. You can screw them in from yhe sides or by shelf support pegs and use those. I like the idea of the support pegs since that makes the shelf removable for cleaning
5. Secure your spines to the back wall along the gaps to prevent sagging in the middle
6. (OPTIONAL) use your hole borer to bore some ventilation at the top of each compartment. I use a 1.5 inch holer and did just a couple staggered to prevent breath build up in the winter to prevent frostbite. If it doesnt get terribly cold or terribly humid where you live this step probably isnt necessary
7. Cut your 2x3s down to 3, 6 foot boards, use 5 inch screws to secure them ***3 inch side up**** about the height of an egg up from the base of each shelf. The height of an egg so eggs dont roll out of the boxes but so you can still easily scrape shavings out of the boxes without having to shovel or scoop it out, and do the 3 inch side up because chickens prefer a wide bar to roost on this will help prevent bumblefoot and frostbite
8. Sand everything a bit dont need to go crazy just a scrap of sand paper and your hand is fine to make sure its all smooth and there's no split wood with exposed screws etc that can cause injury or splinters in the birds.
9. Optional - put in your shelf liner (you could go very fancy here and do all sorts of paint, liners, vinyls etc if you want to make it pretty haha
10. Optional - add partitions if you want the classic cube boxes, I'm leaving the top 2 shelves without partitions as they'll all pile into one cube together if I do that and the whole point of this new bigger one is for them to spread out and get off each other lol. So I only did partitions on the bottom so they'll still have private places to lay. Just secure the partitions to the 2x2 support spines. Any spare wood or plastic you have would work fine for this.
And that's it! This took about 3 hours but would probably be done faster if youre not dilly dallying like I was haha
Let me know if there are any questions or anything I should add to the article that would be helpful!
