Best options for nest boxes

[Cluky]

Hello everyone, I need some opinions. What is the best option for nest boxes? I have seen everything from really nice wooden ones, to plastic ones, to really buckets... So what works? What doesn't? I do not want ot go overboard and being new to chicken raising....seed to know.

 

[AVintageLife]

I'm in the same boat, my five girls will be 16 weeks tomorrow so I want to get the nesting boxes set up so they can get used to them. A friend gave me two cute wooden wine crates lined with linoleum but I think there would still be some construction to use them (a little platform to get them off the floor and a little slanted roof overhead?). We're finishing up the run this weekend and my DH has reached the end of his coop building rope if you know what I mean. I'm thinking of getting one of those covered kitty litter boxes for now and spend the winter deciding what I really want. I'm hoping one nesting box will be OK but feel like I should set up two so they have options. They are so spoiled.....

 

[ChickensRDinos]

The think the material is not really that important. It needs to be a place where the hens will safe and tucked away. Make sure you have enough space (about 4 hens per box tops) and that they are still easy for you to access and clean. I would also make sure you can block them off if necessary. Make sure that your roosts are higher than your boxes or they will sleep in them and make a mess.

Mine are wooden boxes that are built into the wall of my coop. Really simple partial cubes, nothing fancy. I can access them through the main part of the coop and I also put a small door behind them so I can clean them out easily from either side. It has worked great for me. I had a problem in the beginning with them sleeping on top of the nests so I blocked that area off - they then switched to the roosts no problem.