I'm thinking about doing this because even though the girls don't seem to poop or spend too much time in the boxes, they get their feet dirty (we've had a lot of rain and even though we put bedding down in the run, they scratch clear through to the mud and dirt) and think they have to step on every egg that is in there. I can't always collect eggs many times during the day so maybe rollaways would be the answer. So anyway this is how our nest boxes look now:
and from the inside:
I'm thinking we can do this in one of 2 ways:
1) we can use the same dish pans but put a board underneath to use as a ramp. We would have to cut a wide opening in the outside end of the dish pans for the eggs to roll through, and screw them to the board to keep them from sliding back. We would put something like a 1x1 in the front to make the slope. Then put a board for a stopper about 3" or so from the end of the box with foam on it, and put carpet or whatever in the bottom of the dish pan plus in the area behind it where the egg would roll.
2) we can ditch the dish pans and just make a wood ramp (same as above with a 1 x 1) and put a half-wall about 3-4" from the outside end of the ramp so the eggs can roll through plus a short wall as a stop. Put the same carpet/foam as the idea above.
The advantages to method 1 would be that they're already used to the red dish pans so maybe they would be more likely to keep using them. Disadvantage would be that the lip of the box (on the inside of the coop) would no longer sit against the inside wall like they do now. But if they are screwed to the ramp it may not be an issue. But then again it would make the opening smaller. I think the opening is about 12" the way it is now. The advantage to method 2 would be that there wouldn't be anything making the opening smaller but the disadvantage would be more stuff to construct and they are used to the dish pans.
Couple more questions too:
would it be better to do one at a time and maybe they would get used to it that way? They use all 3 nests now and the north-most one is the clear favorite.
how much of a slope does it need to be, and what kind of carpet is best to use on the bottom?
and from the inside:
I'm thinking we can do this in one of 2 ways:
1) we can use the same dish pans but put a board underneath to use as a ramp. We would have to cut a wide opening in the outside end of the dish pans for the eggs to roll through, and screw them to the board to keep them from sliding back. We would put something like a 1x1 in the front to make the slope. Then put a board for a stopper about 3" or so from the end of the box with foam on it, and put carpet or whatever in the bottom of the dish pan plus in the area behind it where the egg would roll.
2) we can ditch the dish pans and just make a wood ramp (same as above with a 1 x 1) and put a half-wall about 3-4" from the outside end of the ramp so the eggs can roll through plus a short wall as a stop. Put the same carpet/foam as the idea above.
The advantages to method 1 would be that they're already used to the red dish pans so maybe they would be more likely to keep using them. Disadvantage would be that the lip of the box (on the inside of the coop) would no longer sit against the inside wall like they do now. But if they are screwed to the ramp it may not be an issue. But then again it would make the opening smaller. I think the opening is about 12" the way it is now. The advantage to method 2 would be that there wouldn't be anything making the opening smaller but the disadvantage would be more stuff to construct and they are used to the dish pans.
Couple more questions too:
would it be better to do one at a time and maybe they would get used to it that way? They use all 3 nests now and the north-most one is the clear favorite.
how much of a slope does it need to be, and what kind of carpet is best to use on the bottom?
