Nest Boxes in the Run???/Milk crates???

[Puma]

I got the milk crates for free. My friend has about 150 of them. Old wooden apple crates work great too! Grape lugs etc... They will lay in anything.

 

[AlixS]

Some grocery stores set their milk crates outside their stores at night to be picked up. If you're sneaky, you can go and grab a few. I sent my boyfriend to get one for me... let him do the "dirty work"!

 

[sunflowerenvy]

no i would not put them outside, why dont you cut a hole in wall like alot of pple here on byc do. or make one that is about 18 inch from the ground you will need about 2 nest boxes 4 birds to 1 nest box. you can see mine on my byc page

 

[jennh]

Quote:
Isn't that stealing?

Jen

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
Please don't encourage stealing.

Illegal and unethical.

From the BYC Rules:

"In general, you agree not to post any material that is illegal,......."

 

[daytonfarm]

Puma, are the milk crates nailed to the wall? How do they stay where they are and your able to pick them up and clean them out. My husband just brought home 4 crates for me to use and I'm not sure how to secure them.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

I built mine from 1" x 12"s and hung them vertically to save floor space. Its funny, some girls like the very top box, others prefer the bottom.

Here are two pix, it is only one unit, but I couldn't get it all into one picture

 

[sheilawagner]

Hi Puma,

I like your arrangement of the crates on top of the ply, on top of the cinders. That saves heaps of money, looks great, and is functional too. Wow. That's a great setup since u have so much space in your coop. Love it.

I realize, building our own henboxes save a lot more money than buying commercial ones. A simple 6 hole nest box can cost up to $159!! Building one with whatever we can reuse or find around, saves so much money. And I honestly don't think the hens mind at all if they cost $200 or $10.

 

[Puma]

Thanks to all for the comments on my milk crates. All you need to do is buy a 1"x12"x10' pine board, one 1"x4"x10' pine board, 4 8"x8"x16" blocks. Space the blocks out evenly, nail the 1x4 to the 1x12, sit that on the blocks slide your milk crates in, they fit snugly between the wall and the 1x4. They are not tippy at all, when you want to clean, simply pick them up dump in the trash and replace with new straw.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Yard full o' rocks :

I built mine from 1" x 12"s and hung them vertically to save floor space. Its funny, some girls like the very top box, others prefer the bottom.

Here are two pix, it is only one unit, but I couldn't get it all into one picture

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/25882_002.jpg

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/25882_001.jpg

Those are nice! Boy, I'm getting lots of ideas here for my new coop! Keep them coming!​