Nest boxes with chicks

[elmo]

Quote:
Wow! What a great idea!

I can't take credit for it; it was the person who gave us our original five chicks who suggested plastic nestboxes to me. He uses plain tote bins and cuts a hole in one end for the chickens to access.

Another thing I love about plastic is that there are no crevices for mites to hide in, which makes them very easy to clean. In the summer here, mites can be a real problem. So in summer I clean nestboxes weekly. I take each box over to the composter, dump out the bedding, hose the box down and leave it to dry in the sun. Then I dust the bottom with poultry dust and put in fresh bedding.

I was extremely careful to make sure the nestboxes were clean and parasite free before I let any of my hens go broody in them last spring. It would be awful for a hen to have to sit in a box for 3 weeks and suffer a mite infestation.

And as soon as the clutches hatched out, I cleaned the nestboxes thoroughly again. A friend of ours lost some chicks to a bad mite infestation in the bedding of one of his nestboxes last summer.


Covered kitty litter boxes also work.

 

[minister man]

kuntrygirl
I really like your set up. Could we get some demensions on the pens/coops where you place the setting birds? i really like the look of those. I also have been wondering what to do with the new moms with chicks, and was wondering if we could get some demensions on the next size pens as well?

thanks,

 

[kuntrygirl]

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Thank you. Yes I will post the info. I have to find my document for the dimensions of all of my buildings and I will post.

 

[kuntrygirl]

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Ok, I just got the info on the dimensions. Sorry I'm late. I hadn't forgotten you.

Brooders where I place my broody hens:
12 feet long
3 ft tall (the actual nesting box - not including from ground to top)
2 1/2 feet deep
3 feet wide

Open/Air Stalls/Breeding Pens:
Total of 6 stalls (Stalls # 1 - #4 (sometimes #5) are used as roosting areas - Stall #5 has 2 individual brooders in it equipped with heat lamps when needed. Stall #6 is the feeding stall where the feed and hay is stored.

The dimensions are below:
5 ft tall x 5 ft deep x 6 ft wide
Each stall has removable 3 level roosts for added room when necessary. Once the stalls are turned into breeding pens, the bottom roost is removed in order to place nesting boxes in so that the hen can lay eggs.

The "portable" nesting box is below. It's dimensions are 3 ft long x 2 ft high 2 ft deep. Lumber used was 1x6's & 2x4's. We have several portable nesting boxes so that we can place the nesting boxes wherever we need them in the chicken houses/stalls.

I hope that this helps. Please let me know if you need any more info. I hope that I didn't confuse you.

 

[ROCKIN R FARM]

you are welcome. I might put a post out on my free cycle group for a few more and maybe milk crates too
deana