Bins for nesting boxes?

[SunAngel]

We bought nice new apple crates for nesting boxes, put front lips on them to keep the hay and eggs from rolling out and stacked them up. My bantams refused to lay their eggs in them. Instead they choose to lay in the 4 plastic cat litter buckets my DH screwed together, silly chickens. The standard chickens like the apple crates though.

 

[NancyDz]

Chicken'n'bees :

Quote:
Do the nest boxes need to be 18" square for each hen, or is that for a communal box? We have 6 hens, (except we are wondering if our Buff Orpington might be a rooster) I've read that you should have 2 boxes per 3 hens, is that right? Thanks for all the help.

that's what they say but all my hens use one box anyway so I took the second box out... it was taking up space. FYI they dont have to be square, round is okay too, like someone said above.. they use buckets turned on their sides. Basically big enough for your biggest hen to get into is what you need.


Nancy​

 

[Bard's Rock!]

Quote:
Oh yeah! Kitty litter tubs with lids. Great idea.

 

[Chickenmaven]

I have some milk crates, but my most popular nests are old dresser drawers.

 

[CountryMom]

Funniest nest boxes we have is the girl's old Barbie Mall House! We put that one in the silkie coop.

 

[Sock Puppet]

Quote:
I have an old dresser drawer, awesome idea. Been trying to figure out what to do. It gets really hot here in AZ and I didnt think an enclosed hot thing would be a good idea.

 

[Chicken'n'bees]

Quote:
Do the nest boxes need to be 18" square for each hen, or is that for a communal box? We have 6 hens, (except we are wondering if our Buff Orpington might be a rooster) I've read that you should have 2 boxes per 3 hens, is that right? Thanks for all the help.

that's what they say but all my hens use one box anyway so I took the second box out... it was taking up space. FYI they dont have to be square, round is okay too, like someone said above.. they use buckets turned on their sides. Basically big enough for your biggest hen to get into is what you need.


Nancy

These are all great ideas. When I read back what I had written, I meant to say 1 box per every 3 birds, ...so for my 6 hens it would be 2 boxes. It sounds like almost anything will do, just so long as it fits the largest hen. Unless the Buff turns out to be a Roo, I am assuming the Buff will be the largest hen or the Barred Rock, they seem to be the largest so far.

 

[calicokat]

I use a pair of white plastic bins I got at Wally World. They said "Pantry Bins" - they are made to stack up, say to hold potatoes in one bin, onions, etc. But I put two side by side and they work great.

They also have a bit of a lip or raised front to keep eggs from rolling out. I have them in a shelf in the coop -- that creates the closed top with the shelf above it (if that makes sense, hard to describe without pix, and I haven't learned to upload them here yet.)

edited because I can't spell simple words, LOL!

 

[Bard's Rock!]

Wale...whatever you all use just don't leave a measuring tape around so your girls can't measure them for correctness.

 

[kingmt]

Like these.