Nesting box

[Mamatomany123]

WOW that is hot! Make sure that your birds don't get heat stroke! You could also give them some frozen fruits or veggies as treats to help beat the heat, provided you have some grit to help them digest.

Oh yes, I definitely help them out. Blocks of ice, fans, frozen treats, constantly changing the water to be sure it's always cold, and deep deep shade. We've never provided grit. I let them find it on their own in the dirt. They're 18 weeks and doing just fine. Even my 3 week old babies know what to do. And because I have such big openings for ventilation the coop actually stays pretty nice.

 

[Mamatomany123]

WOW that is hot! Make sure that your birds don't get heat stroke! You could also give them some frozen fruits or veggies as treats to help beat the heat, provided you have some grit to help them digest.

I also allow them to free range. Their favorite spot is under our big tree. Nice ans cool under there.

 

[Bear1978]

Here’s mine. Made from 14x14 cabinet doors. They’re not permanently fastened in and have pin-hinged tops that I can flip open to check the eggs. This pic was taken several weeks ago when I was still in the beginning stages of the coop construction. You can see they are about a foot away from the roosts but are lower and not directly under them.

 

[Leov]

I don't think that you need the paint trays. Bedding will probably be just fine. You may want to put them on their roosts at night-they could accidentally suffocate each other when all huddled in a corner. How old are they? You'll know that they're getting ready to lay when their combs get very bright red, they start squatting, and they become more interested in the nest boxes. You just have to make sure that they seem like a good, safe place to lay.

They're roughly 12-13 weeks old. and not sure how i would get them on the perches!

 

[Hidrainja4]

No matter how many nest boxes, they all want to use the same one at the same time.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Yea, the roosting bars are technically only 2” from the rest of the straw. ( not a brilliant design) so they’re actually say in a square box full of straw with two bars to perch ( which I haven’t seen them do the perching yet. They typically all huddle together in a corner. So from that room, they would step down say 2” into the nesting boxes. I’ll try that. Not sure if I should bother with the paint trays etc. as if there’s no straw for them to lay on, they may not be happy little chickens

They're roughly 12-13 weeks old. and not sure how i would get them on the perches!

They're not roosting right now? You may need to manually place them on roosts each night to teach them to use them. That said... can you take a photo of the inside of your coop? The fact that the roost bars are so low is something you want to fix, if possible. And you want to fix it before they start laying so they won't get into the bad habit of sleeping in nests.

If there really is no nest box, given the size of the overall coop unit, you definitely want to attach nests externally, as you probably don't have space for it inside.

 

[Leov]

Where I circled is where we put the nesting box. We, for now, just have 1 big box. Hoping they wont mind sharing but if they do we will add dividers. It is by where they roost. So far I only have 1 laying chicken but she uses it just fine. We are also going to add another on the other side directly across.

thanks. i'll probably build a double

They're not roosting right now? You may need to manually place them on roosts each night to teach them to use them. That said... can you take a photo of the inside of your coop? The fact that the roost bars are so low is something you want to fix, if possible. And you want to fix it before they start laying so they won't get into the bad habit of sleeping in nests.

If there really is no nest box, given the size of the overall coop unit, you definitely want to attach nests externally, as you probably don't have space for it inside.

In progress right now. Building it without the pans.. thank you again!