Nest boxes

[kybeagle]

I'm getting ready to put nest boxes in the coop! I have 10 EE, 5 NN and 5 BR. I would like your opinions on size, would it be OK to make them 14 inches wide and 12 inches deep or is that too big? There is a 14 inch spread between the studs and I think that I can find milk crates that are exactly that size, that way I would be able to attach them to the studs and not just the back wall. Also, how close should I put the roost pole in front of the nest box for the hens to jump up onto? From what I have read, it seems the correct height is somewhere around 20-24 inches from the floor, is this correct?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm not sure what NN's are but I assume they are also full sized fowl. The minimum I would recommend is 12" x12". 12" x 12" is big enough, but I like them a bit bigger. I made mine 16" x16" and that worked out well. Your proposed 12" x 14" are certainly not too big and will work fine. They are not that particular about the size of the nest box.

You can put them any height that is convenient to you, the only qualification being that your roosts need to be higher. Some people put them on the floor, some put them much higher so they don't have to bend over so much to gather the eggs. 18" to 24" seems to be a good compromise since the hens can easily jump up that high to get in. One big benefit to raising the nest boxes a bit is that they stay cleaner. Chickens scratch around on the coop floor and will scratch dirt and trash in the nest box if it is too low.

Putting the perch pole 3" to 6" in front of the nest boxes works well. I'm not sure how you plan to keep the nesting material in the milk crate. You will need a lip across the bottom to keep them from scratching out the nesting material and any eggs that are in there. I recommend a lip about 5" high. If it is firmly attached, you can use this lip as a percing pole if the nest box is less than 24" off the floor.

You probably already know this, but the usual recommended ratio is one nest box for each 4 hens. They will all want to use the same one or two, but for 20 hens I''d put in 5 nesting boxes.

Good luck!

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote:
All good advise worth following.

 

[kybeagle]

Thanks Ridgerunner, the NN stands for Naked Neck chickens; they are a full size fowl. The milk crates that I was talking about are actually storage crates and their measurements were 14x15 which would be great. But they are not made the same as the milk crates, these have holes punched out from top to bottom all the way around (I guess to save on weight) that are a little bigger than a regular size egg. I'm afraid that the eggs may just end up getting pushing out of those holes and on the ground. They are also not as tall as the regular milk crates. I do have 5 regular milk crates that measure 13X13, do you think they would be OK for these size hens? Any other comments would be appreciated!

 

[kybeagle]

Bttt

 

[Puma]

This is a removable system. Just set the milk crates on a 1x12x10 pine board with a 1x4x10 lip. When you want to clean, just lift up dump out and replace straw.