We are just in the process of making our chicken coop larger to accomadate a few more birds and wondered if anyone has any clever ways of making some easy nest boxes. We need to make about 7 and we want them to last but thought making them from scratch would take time and money and have been trying to think of something that we could use with a similar structure and then adapt it! All ideas welcome!
I have used Buckets w/ covers. what I did was cut the cover in have with just one part a little longer to attach to bucket with the black plastic or cardboard on the cut edge where I cut it. I had 4 in a row. I placed it on a shelf by drilling it. I usually tilt it slightly upward as a safety measure. Another thing I used is the plastic kitty litter buckets. It has the hindged cover and I place it on the shelf put bedding in and mount on a shelf. they go in and lay. Make sure you clean it and dry it before use though. I also Bought the kitty covered litter box and used it in the shelf, place bedding and leave it for the girls. That works too,, Plus it is easy to clean incase there are any cracked eggs. All you do is pullit out, clean, dry and then re bed and place it back in. I hope this helps.. Oh I got the buckets from my sisters work place. They were pickle buckets and it was all free.
I use old kitchen cabinets. I got three nest boxes per cabinet. I just had to add a piece of wood to the front to keep the shavings in and the eggs from rolling out. I kept the doors on so they could be shut at night to prevent roosting. I actually found them on the curb in a subdivision near my home, someone was redoing their kitchen and discarding the old cabibets. As a matter of fact I saw two this morning on the curb on my way to work. Keep you eye's open, you may get lucky.
