****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
So my ladies are not fans of the roost bars (they still have access to many), they prefer to sleep in the nest boxes and with the freezing weather all winter I was fine with letting them and I dont mind cleaning the boxes daily and collecting eggs daily to prevent the common issues of them sleeping in there. In addition i decided to build these giant nest boxes for them so they'd have an open row of nest boxes at the top thats bigger than the prefab boxes i had in there so theyre more spread out and not pooping on each other AND since they prefer the top row, the bottom 2 rows will stay nice and clean for eggs.
Here's what was there before
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 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 bars 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
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 you can still easily scrape shavings out of the boxes without having to shovel or scoop it out and the 3 inch side up because chickens prefer a wide bar to roost on this will help prevent bumblefoot
8. Sand everything a bit dont need to go crazy just 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
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 to sleep if I do that and the whole point of this new bigger one is for them to spread out. 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.
And that's it! This took about 3 hours but would probably be done faster uf youre not dilly dallying like I was haha
Let me know if there are any questions or anything I should add!
So my ladies are not fans of the roost bars (they still have access to many), they prefer to sleep in the nest boxes and with the freezing weather all winter I was fine with letting them and I dont mind cleaning the boxes daily and collecting eggs daily to prevent the common issues of them sleeping in there. In addition i decided to build these giant nest boxes for them so they'd have an open row of nest boxes at the top thats bigger than the prefab boxes i had in there so theyre more spread out and not pooping on each other AND since they prefer the top row, the bottom 2 rows will stay nice and clean for eggs.
Here's what was there before
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
- TWO 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)
- THREE 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 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 bars 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
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 you can still easily scrape shavings out of the boxes without having to shovel or scoop it out and the 3 inch side up because chickens prefer a wide bar to roost on this will help prevent bumblefoot
8. Sand everything a bit dont need to go crazy just 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
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 to sleep if I do that and the whole point of this new bigger one is for them to spread out. 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.
And that's it! This took about 3 hours but would probably be done faster uf youre not dilly dallying like I was haha
Let me know if there are any questions or anything I should add!
