Nesting boxes debate.. help!

[SweeneyFamJamFarm]

Good evening fellow chicken lovers,

My hubby and I are in the design phase of our chicken coop and run, but we are trying to decide if it would be best to build the nesting boxes attached to the outside of the coop, or have the boxes housed in the coop with an access door? Our concern is if we build the nesting boxes which attach to the coop, will they be warm enough to lay in there through the winter? We live in Ontario and do experience periods of extreme cold. We have been doing tons of research and know the importance of ensuring the coop is free of drafts, and we do have the brooder block heater we can use as well... but would it make more sense to have the boxes inside the coop?
Any suggestions/sharing of experiences would be much appreciated!!

Stay safe.

The Sweeney Fam

 

[Mtnboomer]

Good evening fellow chicken lovers,

My hubby and I are in the design phase of our chicken coop and run, but we are trying to decide if it would be best to build the nesting boxes attached to the outside of the coop, or have the boxes housed in the coop with an access door? Our concern is if we build the nesting boxes which attach to the coop, will they be warm enough to lay in there through the winter? We live in Ontario and do experience periods of extreme cold. We have been doing tons of research and know the importance of ensuring the coop is free of drafts, and we do have the brooder block heater we can use as well... but would it make more sense to have the boxes inside the coop?
Any suggestions/sharing of experiences would be much appreciated!!

Stay safe.

The Sweeney Fam

Mine are outside but we do not live anywhere near that far north with avg winter lows in the upper 20s with only a few randon weeks reaching single digits or below.
Outside boxes are VERY convenient. I designed mine to be incorporated into the framework. Makes them very sturdy. They have a shingled roof and attach to the coop wall like a porch roof to a house with flashing to prevent leaks. I also extended the roof overhangs to increase ventilation and protect side windows and nesting boxes a little more. The nesting box doors are their outside wall that opens down as oppose to lifting the roof. This ensures that they remain water proof. All doors are latched. We have bears that will get in if determined enough but so far none who have tried succeeded.

I have 14 boxes (7 on each side) 2 of which hold feed and water containers. I can check for eggs, refill feed or water without ever stepping foot into a coop or run (i free range so no run) and it takes only seconds.

Our longest cold snap in last 3 yrs was about 8 days where the high was 15 and the lows were -5 with windchills at -15-20. This is very cold and unusual for Virginia even for us in the mountains. But during that time, we still got eggs znd none were frozen.

Coop orientation will be important. Place it on an east to west axis to maximize solar gain. My birds tend to lay in the front boxes (south facing) in winter and rear boxes (north facing) in summer.

Hope you find this helpful! Good luck and have fun with your build!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Not sure what your coop will look like or how many hens you will have. That could play a part.

My personal preference is to go into a big walk-in coop to gather eggs. I'm going in to feed and water anyway. I've found snakes, a dead chicken, and even once a possum in the coop by walking in that I could have missed if I accessed the nests from outside. I initially set them up so I could access the from outside if I wanted to but I never wanted to. If you have one of those little coops you can't comfortably walk in then you have fewer options, you might need to hang one outside. If it is a little larger you can put the nest inside the coop but have an access door to the outside. I like my coop big enough that I don't have to worry about nests taking up space.

A nest hung outside can cool off faster than one built inside the coop. That might make the difference in whether eggs freeze but I'd guess you'll have weather where they might freeze anyway. Insulating that nest could make some difference but probably not as much as you think as the air inside will probably be pretty cold unless you heat it.

It sounds like you have electricity out there. You might consider a heating pad under the nest to keep them from freezing. I haven't done that but I'd want one that stayed just a little above freezing. The warmer it is the faster bacteria can grow, you don't want to make it unhealthy.

I can't remember if Alaskan mentions freezing eggs in his article, but he lives where it really does get cold. You might see something that helps.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/cold-weather-poultry-housing-and-care.72010/