Nesting box placement?

[serenityNH]

Hello.

I am trying to figure out where to put the nesting boxes? I was thinking about putting them on the wall right above the chicken door, would this be okay or is that not enough privacy?

Any suggestion on how to design the interior of the coop for ease of cleaning and happy chickens would be appreciated. I want to put everything in the right place and it's hard to find pictures of the whole interior of coops.

Thanks

 

[chickflick]

Would putting the nest boxes above the door make it difficult for you to open/close it? Might be an awkward placement. Have your top roost far enough away from the wall so they don't poop on it... maybe 12 inches. Have your nest boxes, for standard chickens 12-14 inches off the floor. Don't know how big your coop is, so it's hard to tell you how to design the interior. How many chickens do you have?

 

[teach1rusl]

chickflick already mentioned my only concern with placing nest boxes above the pop door...would it interfere with the door opening/closing? But I'm guessing you must have a flap door rather than a track/sliding door??? If it doesn't interfere, then that would be as good a place as any, and leaves floor space open, which is good.
I like a dropping board under the roosts to keep bedding from getting pooped up at night. If you can manage that, and are able to place both your dropping board and nest boxes high enough, that leaves all of your floor space as "usable," which is nice.

 

[serenityNH]

Quote:
I didn't even think about the nesting boxes being in the way of the door- good point! Feel kind of stupid but thanks for pointing that out:/

My coop is 12 x 8 and the large door is in the front and the chicken door to the run is going to be on the right hand side. I read that the roosting poles should be on the opposite side of the chicken door? So that leave me not knowing where to put the nesting boxes where they will be quiet and out of the way?

Thanks!

 

[chickflick]

How many chickens do you have? Is the people door on the 8' side, or the 12' side. I have a 10x12. My people door is on the 10' side. Nest boxes on the right hand side. Started with 6, and now have a two story nest boxes and have 12. My roosts are on the back wall. The first starting at 3 ft, 4ft and the tallest at 5 ft. Chickens want to be at the highest point when they go to bed at night, so they fight for the top roost. If you can give two at the same height, that may cut down on the pecking order fighting. I also have a ladder leading up to the first roost so the heavier birds can get up without any problems. That leaves the left side for the placement of their food dish and waterer. Hope this answers some more questions. Oh, and my pop door is on the back wall, but the roosts stop short, so I still can get to it if need be. But honestly, I don't need to, my pop door works from the outside so I don't have to go thru the coop to open the pop door.

 

[serenityNH]

Quote:
Thanks for all the info! I am getting 10 chickens and the 'people door' in on the 12' side. Lots of stuff to think about

 

[MethowPeeps25]

Putting your nest boxes above the door might cause some annoyances if you don't plan it right. But, that would save floor space. Make sure the nest boxes are still secluded enough though. I personally like having a drop board with plastic containers under the roost, easy to clean and no poop piles under on the floor. I hope you'll be able to build a nice coop!!