Height of nest boxes?

[chick-n-momma]

Hi all....
Wondering if nest boxes need to be raised off the floor of the coop...if so, how high? How high does the roost need to be? And finally, what the heck is a poop board? We are brand new to this chicken business and we have 12 peeps that will soon need a home outside of my computer room! We have an old garden shed that we plan to use as the coop and we're going to fence a nice size area for their run. I have some old wooden orchard boxes that I thought about using for the nest boxes but they have only one open side. We noticed the ones in TSC were shaped a lot different and the back is open. Is this because they will poo out the back of the box instead of it going in their nest?

 

[DancingHen]

I'll share what I know... The nest boxes can be right on the floor, but some people like to raise them a few inches (or feet) to keep them up high enough so the chickens won't kick as much stuff in them when they are scratching about. I think that a nest box with an open back must be to allow the person to have an outside door to collect eggs without entering the coop. If your shed is large enough for you to walk in then you only need one chicken sized opening in the front. The roosts should be at least a foot off the ground, and the height is determined by your breed. A large heavy breed should have a lower roost (maybe 2 feet or less) so they don't hurt their legs or breast bones when they jump off. Light breeds and bantams can have higher roosts. The roosts should be higher then the nest boxes, because chickens like to sleep in the highest spots, and you don't want to encourage them to sleep in the boxes or they will soil them (and your eggs.) Finally, the hens will not poop in the nest boxes most of the time. Once they accept them as a place to lay eggs they will clean them out themselves, and avoid pooping in them. Hope that helps.

 

[teach1rusl]

Nest boxes can be placed at any height that is convenient for you and your coop. Orchard boxes sound fine, although you might want to nail a board (maybe 4-6 inches wide) across the bottom/front so that nesting material doesn't fall out. If your space is limited, then I'd elevate them around 18 inches; this frees up floor space (you can keep a feeder or waterer underneath) AND makes for less stooping to collect eggs. But it's really personal preferance. Nest boxes are for egg laying only, so they should RARELY get pooped in.

Roosts can be any height that is higher than the nest box opening, as chickens generally want to roost at the highest point.

A dropping board/poop board is a wide (at least 16 inches) board centered below the roosts. Chickens do A LOT of pooping overnight while roosting. Instead of falling into the bedding, the droppings fall onto the dropping board. I scrape mine daily with a 6 inch putty knife into a "poop bucket"...takes a minute or so daily. But some scrape the boards 2-3x week or even once a week. Here's an example of a dropping board.

PS: Some use poop trays instead of boards...works similarly.