Nesting Boxes inside or outside?

[Weasleymum]

Weasleymum, I agree with you on the very small coops. However, if your coop is 3.5' tall or more you can elevate the nesting boxes off the floor and you don't lose floor space for your chicks to walk around on. Interior nesting boxes will stay warmer during the winter months because they will get more heat from the other chickens inside the coop. I elevated my nesting boxes 16" off the floor of my recently completed coop as I wanted all of the 48 SF floor space available for my dozen chicks. Provided the nesting boxes with a perch so they can flap up there and inspect where they will lay their next perfect egg. Hope it works!

Doug
Here are the four nesting boxes, elevated 16" off the floor, before I put my plywood on the outside. They are 16" long X 11" wide with almost 2' of headroom under the sloped cover. Left a gap above the sloped cover for ventilation. I used some repurposed cove molding for the front perch.

Here is my coop finished and painted. The four openings on the left are my egg collection holes.

Ohhh, that is really cool. Kind of the best of both worlds!

 

[thetigress]

I have inside nesting boxes. We wanted a way to make it easy to clean, feed and water, and collect the eggs daily. Our coop looks like a big dog house. The 2 sides fold down for easy access to clean, remove the nesting boxes, etc. The nesting boxes we have looks like a small bookshelf the size of the side wall. We cut small holes in the back so we can fold down the side reach in the holes to collect the eggs. The other benefit is that we can leave the side down to provide extra ventilation during those hot summer months but close it at night and during the winter to keep the heat in. The access is outside of the run so it is easy for any one to collect the eggs. If you want to let your chickens free range pull down the other side and let the out. Close and use main entrance to the run if not. The food and water is hung on the over hang roof by the run door for easy access.

 

[Lb4paws]

Hi-
We are in the process of building our coop. Our nesting boxes will be inside but my question is this.....
if you put a bar along the front for them to jump on before getting in, do they roost on it?
We're going to have roosting board with poop boards underneath for cleaning and I would rather they didn't roost on the bar in front of the nesting box.

 

[rides2far]

My pullets are 14 weeks & not sleeping on roosts yet, so we haven't added the perch for our nesting boxes yet. They can't get into the boxes yet, but I'm worried about the same thing!

 

[ChickenMammX4]

Usually chickens will roost at the highest point, if the nest boxes and perch are lower than the roosting bar, it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Lb4paws]

Quote:
Good to know! Thanks!! (so much to learn!)