Nesting box size

[aart]

My nest bank could be a community box, dividers are removable.
Tried 2 singles and the other divider removed, and only one bird would go in the double at a time and they squabbled so I put divider back in, they've been fine with the single nests.

 

[lazy gardener]

I have a community nest box that is 36" wide 17" tall and I forget how deep and they all use it sometimes 3 at a time are in there.

Community nest boxes are great. You just know those girls are gonna stack in the nest box like fire wood, so a community box makes that possible without them standing on top of each other.

For OP set up, I suggest one community nest box and 2 standard boxes. FYI to the new chicken owner: A hen stands up to lay her egg, so make sure those boxes are tall enough!

 

[squadleader]

KD,

Jthornton bought his fabric, so he knows exactly what his is, I'm sure he'll be along soon with a reply. The 24 inch box I got from Hengear.com uses what seems to me is a nice thick waterproof vinyl, with a white cloth embedded in the center. It has a sort of small pattern embedded in the surface of the fabric, you can see it in the attached photos.

Hengear recently switched from a V slit in the curtain, to a rectangular cut, and they say that works better, but I don't know the reason. On their's, the rectangle is five inches wide and has about 3/4 of an inch of fabric along the top. The curtain is 3/4 of an inch from touching at the bottom. I've seen two hens in my box several times, even three.

Personally, I'd just go with a single community box, with no individual boxes. I think that would just confuse them, plus it defeats the purpose of saving space and certainly you wouldn't want the bother of building three roll out boxes, and the advantages roll out offers, is too great to ignore in my book. There's simply no question Jthornton's box is plenty big for 15 hens, heck my smaller box would probably work.

The box is 24 inches wide, 11.5 inches deep, and the opening in the fabric is 5 inches wide, the fabric is 3/4 of an inch short of the bottom.

You can see the tiny pattern in the vinyl and the white fabric center to the fabric.

 

[kd_colorado]

Thanks for the information. I will make my curtains from fabric I have left over from other things.

 

[Harmony Fowl]

KD,

Jthornton bought his fabric, so he knows exactly what his is, I'm sure he'll be along soon with a reply. The 24 inch box I got from Hengear.com uses what seems to me is a nice thick waterproof vinyl, with a white cloth embedded in the center. It has a sort of small pattern embedded in the surface of the fabric, you can see it in the attached photos.

Hengear recently switched from a V slit in the curtain, to a rectangular cut, and they say that works better, but I don't know the reason. On their's, the rectangle is five inches wide and has about 3/4 of an inch of fabric along the top. The curtain is 3/4 of an inch from touching at the bottom. I've seen two hens in my box several times, even three.

Personally, I'd just go with a single community box, with no individual boxes. I think that would just confuse them, plus it defeats the purpose of saving space and certainly you wouldn't want the bother of building three roll out boxes, and the advantages roll out offers, is too great to ignore in my book. There's simply no question Jthornton's box is plenty big for 15 hens, heck my smaller box would probably work.

View attachment 1246548
The box is 24 inches wide, 11.5 inches deep, and the opening in the fabric is 5 inches wide, the fabric is 3/4 of an inch short of the bottom.

View attachment 1246549
You can see the tiny pattern in the vinyl and the white fabric center to the fabric.

Exactly the info I was about to go seek, thanks!

 

[Harmony Fowl]

Thanks for the information. I will make my curtains from fabric I have left over from other things.

I was thinking a shower curtain? Plastic, easy to clean and/or replace.

 

[squadleader]

A shower curtain might work OK, I wonder about real cold temperatures, would a shower curtain get stiff and brittle? The photo of Jthornton looks to me like the fabric on my Hengear box, it's supple even in real cold weather.

If you showed these photos to someone in a JoAnns fabric store or any big fabric store, I bet they'd know exactly what the fabric is.

A straight cheap shower curtain might break, good vinyl might be better, and best I think is this fabric Hengear is using which is a white cloth embedded in the vinyl giving it strength and flexibility.

 

[Harmony Fowl]

A shower curtain might work OK, I wonder about real cold temperatures, would a shower curtain get stiff and brittle? The photo of Jthornton looks to me like the fabric on my Hengear box, it's supple even in real cold weather.

If you showed these photos to someone in a JoAnns fabric store or any big fabric store, I bet they'd know exactly what the fabric is.

A straight cheap shower curtain might break, good vinyl might be better, and best I think is this fabric Hengear is using which is a white cloth embedded in the vinyl giving it strength and flexibility.

The craft store was actually my first thought, too. I think I’ll do that today so I’ll have it for construction this weekend.

 

[jthornton]

What kind of material did you use for the curtain? I’m constructing a new community nest box this weekend and only just stumbled on this curtain idea.

I got it from Hobby Lobby but I imagine any fabric store might have it. I used red on the outside and black on the inside. It is very flexible even at 1°F and does not unravel like a cotton fabric would.



JT

 

[jthornton]

You can see the tiny pattern in the vinyl and the white fabric center to the fabric.

That is called Cloth Inserted Sheet or CI sheet, it's a common conveyor belt material.

JT