(I just typed up this thread, then didn't find it-so a similarly worded post from me may be on here somewhere. If so I apologize for the repeat) With the flock growing, I'm trying to free up more room in my coop. Our coop right now is a 3x5 floor, with 5 feet of ceiling height. there is a horizontal row of nesting boxes (5 gallon buckets) about a foot off the floor, then 3 perches/rungs, above them. The boxed right now collect lots of poop from the roosting hens at night, and are taking up precious space I'll be needing soon with new additions to the flock. On to my question: Will moving the nesting boxes outside the coop be too detrimental to their laying habits? I'm worried they may not use the boxes if they move them, and start laying eggs either outside in the yard, or in the floor of the coop. I can always count on good advice from the BYC community. Thanks in advance!
I'm not sure what you mean by outside the coop, are you going to make nest boxes that are attached to the coop that the hens get into from the inside but are sticking off the outside? Or are you going to have another coop or something just for nest boxes? If they are going to be accessible from the coop they are in now, I would just move the boxes they have now to the place where the new openings will be. If I have to move boxes in a coop I try to move them gradually over a couple of days from one place to another, it seems to cause less fuss. If you are building another coop just for the boxes, I would probably lock the hens in there for a while in the morning when they need to lay, and make the nest boxes as inviting as possible, fake eggs etc.
Make external nest boxes, they would go along the side of the house but the entrance to them is from the inside and there is a lift up lid on the outside of the house for collecting eggs. Here are some pictures of them