Drafty & leaky nesting boxes

[aurorarora]

I need some help modifying my nesting boxes to encourage my ladies to use them. They are currently laying in a little nest they made under their stairs.

The current nesting boxes are not ideal, especially in the current very cold winter conditions. They are exterior to the coop and have a top hinge. The coop is insulated but the nesting boxes are not. On a very wet day, some leaking can occur. We tried adding some weatherstripping but it didn't really work.

Is there something I can build inside the boxes to keep them warmer and drier? Thank you!

 

[swamphiker]

Hi there and welcome to BYC! Could you add some photos so we can try and help you better? Also, where are you located? Chicken housing needs vary depending on location.

 

[aurorarora]

Thank you! I live in Ontario. We are covered with snow right now so I don't think I can get a really good picture so I took one from the internet that shows the type of box. Mine is very similar to this

 

[swamphiker]

Thank you! I live in Ontario. We are covered with snow right now so I don't think I can get a really good picture so I took one from the internet that shows the type of box. Mine is very similar to this

If you can, adding more roof overhang over the nest boxes would help. If you have leaking where the door hinges are, you could add something flexible to help keep water out. I am cheap and lazy, so I simply stapled an old feed bag over the top of my nesting boxes, which has worked well in our very wet (but not snowy) climate down here in Florida.

If there are other gaps up to 1/4" on parts that don't move, you could try filling them with caulk.

 

[aurorarora]

If you can, adding more roof overhang over the nest boxes would help. If you have leaking where the door hinges are, you could add something flexible to help keep water out. I am cheap and lazy, so I simply stapled an old feed bag over the top of my nesting boxes, which has worked well in our very wet (but not snowy) climate down here in Florida.

If there are other gaps up to 1/4" on parts that don't move, you could try filling them with caulk.

That's a good idea. It is from the hinges primarily that the drafts and water are coming in. I'd like to insulate them as well. We have a lot of frozen eggs even though we collect 2-3 times a day

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC. Top-hinged nests are notorious for leaking along the seam.

Large roof overhangs are the best protection but I'm among the many people who ended up converting top-hinged boxes to front drop-down boxes.

 

[aart]

It is from the hinges primarily that the drafts and water are coming in.

Larger roof overhangs might help, but really the next best thing to converting to a back door is to cover the hinge area with something fairly flexible that is attached to the side of coop and covers the hinge area. Heavy rubber material like EDPM pond liner/roof sheathing would probably work best.

 

[linguini]

to cover the hinge area with something fairly flexible that is attached to the side of coop and covers the hinge area. Heavy rubber material like EDPM pond liner/roof sheathing would probably work best.

Spot on! Wish I had known what material to use. Being ignorant about construction materials, and searching only among household items lying around, I used the durable vinyl liner from IKEA similar to this:

and it worked!