Can this coop be saved? Questions re:nesting boxes

[Keptewe]

I am an absolute newbie on a steep learning curve when it come to chickens.

My husband built a lovely coop for our full grown hens and rooster. He built the nesting boxes with flaps to access from the outside (hole in the wall). Unfortunately, they are about 4 feet off the ground. My reading on this forum is telling me that they are too high. What can be done to salvage this situation? Can we build a ramp or series of steps? We have no roosts yet. Should they be above the boxes even though the boxes are so high or should we just put them on another wall lower?

Thanks for any and all help.

 

[AK Michelle]

My nest boxes are that high and higher and the girls roost on top of the top tier (I need to cover that so they stop) so I don't see a problem with the height.

I do have a roosting board in front of the boxes, just a simple thing to do really, they hang out there and then step into the boxes.

 

[bigzio]

It depends on your breed of chickens. 2 feet high is more than my girls want to master. I would figure out a way to lower the nests for the girls. They need a comfortable place to lay, without trying to figure out how to get there.

I have ground nests, one foot high nests, and two foot high max nests for my flock....these really are gentle fowl, and large birds like lower nests.

Give the flock a choice, they will show you what they like.

~bigzio

 

[AK Michelle]

I should add that my silkies don't fly and have a nest box on the ground. I watch them to see who ends up on which roosts so I can see who like to be up high.

 

[crazyhen]

Oh my,
The boxes will need to be lower than any roost or they will live in the boxes. I just tore out some and put them lower myself. Ugg that was a job. I have large chickens so they do not need to be high. The roost usually start at one foot and then go up by a foot each to get to the highest roost sort of like steps. I place them a foot up and apart. enjoy your chicks. Gloria Jean

 

[AK Michelle]

I was talking to a friend ans she has a ramp, similar to the one going out into the yard, that some of her hens take up to the boxes. Just a thought...

 

[OneBang]

I've got a set that I made that is 3 boxes wide by 5 rows high. The top boxes are about six feet off the ground with only a 1" x 2" across the front, about 5" out, for a perch. I get more eggs from the upper boxes than the lower. Even my little banty uses the upper boxes.