Help: Adding Nesting Boxes into Coop....

[CityBredCountry]

I have enclosed a picture of my current Coop. Right now I can hold about 60 chickens in there and only have their roosts in it. I would like to keep as much space in there as I can. I had a thought that I would like opinions on. Yes, I am going to cheap and functional.

I am considering 5 Gallon Buckets as nesting boxes, using 1/2 lids for the front little piece.

My thoughts were to cut holes large enough in the side of my shed to fit the 5 Gallon buckets into, up to the large ring so it kinda seals. Sliding the buckets through the holes then building a 2x2 tic-tac-toe type frame on the outside to hold the ends of the buckets from falling down. Then build some sort of perch that they can use to fly up to the front of the buckets.

How many birds per nesting box?

 

[Judy]

The formula is usually given as one nest per 4 chickens, but they rarely use that many. I would just set them on the ground inside the coop, lined up along the wall, and make about 10 at most. Or you could build a simple wooden rack to hold them and have 5 on top of 5 more. They will enjoy a walking board along the front of the upper row, but they will make it into the nest without one, too.

I'm afraid you would wind up with a bunch of leaks at your nest openings, and have to do a lot of caulking. Also, every cut opens up a new place to rust. If the loss of floor space worries you, just make a flat place they can walk on top of the nests with a scrap of pywood or, better yet, floor vinyl.

Nests on the outside seem like a good idea, but in reality, you have to check inside the coop pretty much every day anyway, for eggs laid outside the nest, any sick chickens, etc.

 

[CityBredCountry]

@Judy , Thank you! You're surely right about all the leaks and that would make a wet inside coop. I don't have the most glamours coop, but I'll surely upgrade when I can.

I did find this cool one, that I think that I am going to use and keep the flat top to it so they can chill on top:

 

[bsilkie 2]

I haven't put a nesting box in coop yet. Waiting to see if they are roo or hen. They are silkies. Will probably will know at the end of December. My question is when should the nest be put in? Also if I wait for the first egg will she always lay in the henhouse & not in the box? I'm a newby. thx for any advice.

 

[Judy]

There is really no harm in waiting til they lay to put nest boxes in. For their first month of layng, they tend to do odd things anyway, just as they tend to lay some odd eggs. It's as if they have to learn that this thing is going to come out of their back end regularly, and it would seem that it is a surprise to them at first, so the first egg may very well not be in a nest box. Or, they may stay on a nest for hours, waiting for that first egg to pass. They vary a lot in how well their instincts govern their behavior.

 

[lauraschicks]

@bsilkie2

I have/had 5 silkies, and the only one that has a visible comb is my rooster/cockeral. Technically he's only 7 months old, but he's been procreating since he was 3 months old.
As for the pullets I'm not convinced any are laying yet, but one has already been practicing her broody hen, and sat on a communal nest of about 15 eggs for a full week during the cold snap with the nights in the twenties. She couldn't even fully cover them all but she tried. The other hens were climbing in with her to lay their eggs, and i think that's what finally ended the teen broody practice.

 

[lauraschicks]

@Judy

My first egg from my first laying pullet was like what you said. she is a golden buff. my flock is let out every day to free range in a windy Valley with our house on the hill.
That day was sunny and bright and very windy. She was foraging at the top of the hill, when she stiffened with a surprised "Oops" look on her face, and popped out a medium sized egg all wet and streaked with tan and brown.
I was so proud I picked it up and took a picture with my camera, only to find the next day a nest with 6 brown eggs in it.