Anyone use milk crates for nesting boxes?

[Homesteadermomma6382]

So they're not too small that way? I'd love to attach them upright but they seem a few inches to small. Here's our set up

That looks good. Either way is fine. Being that our boxes are several feet off the ground I would be paranoid of my girls falling out of the crates on their side. They probably would be fine but I'm kind of an odd bird I have found that my chickens like their nesting boxes to be cozy. Most manufactured nesting boxes are smaller than a milk crate. Mine have generally preferred the smaller crate.

 

[ehoneybee]

That looks good. I have found that my chickens like their nesting boxes to be cozy. Most manufactured nesting boxes are smaller than a milk crate.

Ok, good . Our engineered ones were 2" bigger but they were roomy for them.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

So they're not too small that way? I'd love to attach them upright but they seem a few inches to small. Here's our set up

That looks fine to me.

 

[Ridgerunner]

So they're not too small that way? I'd love to attach them upright but they seem a few inches to small. Here's our set up

I find that people worry about this type of thing a lot more than the chickens do. The chickens should not care if they are open to the top or are on the side like yours. We all have our personal preferences but the chickens don't care about that. They are not out to please us, they are just looking for a good place to lay.

One thing to look for. If you find the bedding, fake eggs, or real eggs scratched out of the nest and on the coop floor, that means you need to raise that bottom lip a bit. You may be fine the way you are, experience will quickly tell you that. But if it happens there is a simple fix.

 

[Folly's place]

I've always used them, and like that there's good air flow in summer.

Yes, it's a mess! The sill in front is too low, they kick out bedding all the time. And the 'roof' isn't sloped enough, so birds sit on it and make another mess. The shelf they sit on has big openings, so it's easy to clean off. Each box has an empty feed bag in it, with shavings or hay on top as bedding. There's a row of them at the back wall, and another two in the annex coop section, all 24" above the floor.
Mary

 

[ehoneybee]

I've always used them, and like that there's good air flow in summer.
View attachment 2241257
Yes, it's a mess! The sill in front is too low, they kick out bedding all the time. And the 'roof' isn't sloped enough, so birds sit on it and make another mess. The shelf they sit on has big openings, so it's easy to clean off. Each box has an empty feed bag in it, with shavings or hay on top as bedding. There's a row of them at the back wall, and another two in the annex coop section, all 24" above the floor.
Mary

Are the bags so the bedding doesn't fall through the openings? I do not want them to start roosting on the nesting boxes so maybe I will just turn them up. I'll keep the one on the bottom and is. Already they're just laying in the corner lol. We have a long roosting bar with the poop trays from the other coops underneath to catch the poop so I'm trying to keep things as clean as possible and to make it easier on myself. If they do choose that corner, I might just stick a crate there and hope they hop into it.

 

[Folly's place]

Yes, the feed bags keep the floor of each box solid and more comfortable. i don't want the hens jumping into the boxes from the top, and breaking eggs already there.
A friend uses plastic storage containers, open side up, for her nest boxes, and they work well for her.
Mary

 

[ehoneybee]

Yes, the feed bags keep the floor of each box solid and more comfortable. i don't want the hens jumping into the boxes from the top, and breaking eggs already there.
A friend uses plastic storage containers, open side up, for her nest boxes, and they work well for her.
Mary

That was my worry, too, especially if one of them goes broody, which seems to be often around here!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

That was my worry, too, especially if one of them goes broody, which seems to be often around here!

Do you still have your old coop?
If so, that may work well as a broody coop (if they are going to hatch eggs), a quarantine coop or a grow out building for new chicks.

 

[ehoneybee]

Do you still have your old coop?
If so, that may work well as a broody coop (if they are going to hatch eggs), a quarantine coop or a grow out building for new chicks.

Yes, I have 2 coops; one I'm using for parts lol and the other is in the run that I use for hens and chicks when I move them after they hatch. It has a run within it, so everyone can see each other. Integration has been seemless so far.

I tweaked the setup a bit. I added more of a lip to the top ones and the separaters from the old coop nests to keep the hay in in the bottom one.