Exterior access to interior nest boxes: access door question

[desertmarcy]

I'll be building some new nest boxes soon. They will be inside the coop, but with access from the outside. What works best for the access door, hinged down? hinged up? The whole back hinged, or just a small part? A side swing over a porthole? Pictures please, if you have them! Thanks.

 

[spotstealer]

Here is what I did with my nesting boxes. I hinged my door down so it will be out of the way. I have a hasp and a carabiner to keep critters out. In the second picture,you can see I angled the boxes. This is so the eggs will roll down toward the back of the boxes.

 

[debid]

It's too dark to take a pic right now. I have it hinged at the bottom with a latch on the top of the door. The door can be used with one hand so I can open, collect, and close without having to set the basket down. We made the door 4'W by 10". It's a cutout of the wall siding (T111) and then trim boards were fastened to the edges of the cutout like a frame. Decorative blocks of the same trim wood were added to the wall so the hinges could be mounted flat. This way the cutout fits neatly in the wall when closed and the door hangs straight down when open. The latch at the top is a slide type so it goes into a hole in the door trim with a metal strike plate around the hole. It's very secure.

 

[spotstealer]

I forgot to mention I used to heavy duty galvanized hinges. I alsomade sure to add a 1" framing around the inside of the entire opening to keep drafts out.

 

[cmom]

How you hinge the nest boxes really depends on how you build them.
Here is the nest boxes on my original coop.

Here are my nest boxes on another of our coops.

On another coop my doors open sideways.

 

[Horizon Structures]

If the door is flush with the coop wall, I would probably hinge it so it drops down. Buy a bit of chain and bolt that on the corner, so that when the door opens it won't slam down. You can see what I mean on this picture.

If you are hinging it so it opens up, put a latch or something at the top to keep it open or prop it open with a scrap length of wood. Then you can use both hands to do whatever you gotta do.

 

[BoltonChicken]

I personally used the drop down method with hook and eye latching on both the egg box and the clean-out door.
Kind of like the idea of an attached chain to keep the door from dropping 180 degrees. May do that as soon as
I add the second watering system.

 

[smeek1]

MY nest box door drops down, and I have a 3 inch board on the inside ( across where the door is) to keep the shavings in. I think it will work pretty well, but my girls aren't laying yet!

 

[birdmomma]

So I have a related question of sorts - I have the interior nests with a drop down lid for my boxes - it came with a simple slide lock. It's relatively close to the roof eaves - do I need to worry about raccoons getting it opened? (sorry OP for asking this on your thread, but I need to know answers to your question too)

 

[desertmarcy]

Thanks for the pics and ideas. Does anybody have hens try to hop out when you open the nest box door? Especially on the designs where the door is wide and exposes several boxes when it is open.