Anyone have luck with nesting boxes outside coop?

[Tippyman]

I just made a nesting box outside the coop to try and alleviate any crowding and competition I may have once laying picks up this spring. My coop is small and there was no room inside for another box, so I made one outside near the coop.







It's a 5 gallon bucket with another cut open and spread on top to act as a weather guard. The nesting box they have inside the coop now is also a 5 gallon bucket, so I'm hoping they take to it. This one is obviously not as secure and safe as one nestled inside a dark coop, so I don't know if they'll use it.

They did use a dog kennel I left in the run for a while before I caught on to them! Laid 19 eggs inside before I realized they were using it!

Anyone else have something like this? How'd it work out for you?

 

[Mahlzeit]

I'm interested to hear if they start to use it. I have never tried myself though sorry.

 

[DallasCriftins]

Mine free range all day and lay where it suits them occasionally
They mostly stick to the communal boxes I have but not always and not when broody

From time to time they have used the dog kennel which is at the other end of the field in a shelter the geese nest in, and even wheelie bin laying on its side, (very popular with the Appenzellars) and we found 28 eggs in a clutch under a topiary snails last spring.

For use in the fields in the summer I have a converted caravan as a coop which for the winter is parked up by my garage I have one of this years hatch that waits for me to open it up every morning.

 

[Tippyman]

Saw one hen go in it, sit for a couple of minutes, and leave. No eggs.

I put a couple of wooden eggs in the box to encourage them. We'll see.

 

[Free Feather]

I have dog houses scattered around my run. They all lay in them, whether I want them to or not.

 

[uzisuzuki]

I ended up doing this because they were laying outside the coop. I'm new to chickens, so I thought it'd be easier on all of us if I just put something more secure in the area they were using. So far, it's been working well!

 

[Tippyman]

Someone keeps hopping in but not laying. All the shavings and wooden eggs are moved. Maybe they're getting the hint.