Does it matter what you make a nest box out of ?

[aria122]

Buckets are good, so are planters, I have one hen that will only lay if I give her a cardboard box.

 

[lilshadow]

I got 5 gallon buckets, and kitty litter buckets for mine.

 

[BarefootMom]

Our first nest boxes were old drawers out of a kitchen my sister tore out and some straw on top of an old broken changing table!! Then my dad remodeled his shop and gave my hubby a shelving unit that he had built...when turned on its back it made PERFECT nesting boxes. We attached a roof and that is what we use now. Even now, I have a drawer and a box inside of an igloo dog house out side of the coop that they lay in occasionally. I have 20 hens and only 6 nesting boxes in the coop. One of my easter eggers lays on top of the straw bales in front o my kitchen window...

A chicken really doesn't care what the "nest" looks like. But they do like it to be private. They will lay just about anywhere I have discovered!

 

[hipeatall]

One of our hens, Nan, was flying the coop and laying her eggs in our compost bin and in my new flower planters on the porch... she was making such a mess! I tried clipping her wing to keep her in their yard (it's an acre!) where they have proper nesting boxes and plenty of them... but she was determined and still managed to fling herself into the fence as high as possible and then climb on over the fencing everyday. I raised the white flag... Nan wins!

 

[spiritdance]

I use Rubbermaid totes with holes cut in the sides. They're easy to clean, easy to move around for cleaning the coop, and roomy.

 

[6chickens in St. Charles]

Quote:
Here, too. they're surprisingly easy to cut with a sharp knife. Our girdies prefer the deep red colored ones, they like it dark, cavelike, womblike, and attached securely up high.

Plus, easy to dust with anti-mite med. We made the terrible, almost deadly mistake of cute wicker wooden baskets with cute gingham cloth covers, OMG it was so cute, but the mite infestation was baaaaaad. We almost lost a sweet broody from that. But we saved her, and now she adores her red tupperware. She even likes to see us wipe it out and redust it, makes her feel so secure and cared for

 

[Kansaseq]

My very first coop was so small (maybe 4x2), that a nest box wasn't really practical. I just let them lay in the floor. Of course, I kept that coop spotlessly clean, so never had a problem with dirty eggs. Now I use old milk crates with a wooden board to keep the shavings in. Also have a large plastic doghouse in the run for the ducks, and the girls like to lay in that, too. Chickens are so awesome and adaptable; you can use almost anything that makes them feel safe and protected.

 

[Woofless]

Last year I used an old car tire stuffed with straw & placed in a dark corner of the coop, on the ground....that's where all my girls laid their eggs and they all stayed nice and clean.

I've got a HUGE building for the birds, used to be a grow-out pen for a pheasant breeding operation that handled 500+ birds, so it was easy to find them a nice dark private corner away from their roosting area.

Wasn't until this winter that I snagged an old bookshelf-type thing from a friend's junk pile and turned it into a nest box. They seem to like having the ability to choose where to put their eggs- seems a few birds favor the bottom & a few favor one box in the middle