Nesting boxes

[BuyanBuyan]

I got chickens as a gift and I am raising them "on a shoestring" are these nesting boxes good enough or is it a FAIL? Opinions? Options?

 

[Hokum Coco]

I have seen better and I have seen worse. I think once your girls get adjust to them things will work out well for you. Here is hoping!

Mine are just milk crates. One row is for storage the other on it's side for nest boxes. My favourite addition is the poop board held in place with two hockey stick handles 3½ inches from the roost (2x4 wide side up) that catch eggs laid through the night and save the day. I later put a piece of vinyl flooring (friction fit) to aid in clean up on the poop board.

 

[Sandstorm495]

Your nesting boxes are not a fail, they are quite good for starters. It's always possible to change them later if need be. I can see at the side of the picture there is a slanted piece of wood leaning on the top nesting box. I'm presuming that's for your chooks to climb up on to get to it. Do they use it?

 

[Kelsie2290]

They look good for starters, are your chickens in a run/coop or are you going to free range? I would worry about how the chickens can get in them on the middle shelves, and if they would knock them over when they stand on the edges of the basket, are they fastened in some way?.

 

[BuyanBuyan]

My ORIGINAL idea was to put the milk crates on these shelves but they are a tad too big so I had to improvise. Got these little baskets at the dollar store. There is a roost just above the top shelf so they can easily access the top shelf. The ones in the middle, they can access by a ramp on a cinderblock just in front of it. No, the baskets are not secured just wedged against each other. The tops of the baskets catch on the shelf above it when they are tilted so they don't flip all the way over. So far they tipped one of the baskets on the top shelf but seem to be leaving the rest alone. I have put white rocks and golf balls in the baskets but haven't seen any eggs. We have 8 girls that are about 6 months old and so far I have only seen 1 egg ever (found it just before I put in the nesting boxes), but I'm hoping for more eggs to come!!! I let them out every morning and they have 15 acres to free range. The coop is open all day so they have complete access to it whenever they want. I don't think they know to use the nesting boxes and I have no idea how to teach them....

 

[Sandstorm495]

Sit them in there every morning.., It will get through to them eventually, don't worry. Just keep an eye out for a stray egg you might see in the garden....

 

[Alaskan]

I actually have my chickens every which way this year.....

anyway, the result is that they don't actually have any standard nest boxes at all.

I have one clear small rectangle tote (about the size of a cat litter box) screwed about 2 feet up on one wall, and that is it.

So, my ladies have been laying in that open topped clear box, and on the back edge of their poop tray.

I am happy, too happy to bother building nest boxes.

My poop tray is full of PDZ, so the eggs are always spotlessly clean.

Point being....who cares? As long as your hens lay someplace you can find the eggs, where the eggs stay clean, great.

 

[Sandstorm495]

I actually have my chickens every which way this year.....

anyway, the result is that they don't actually have any standard nest boxes at all.

I have one clear small rectangle tote (about the size of a cat litter box) screwed about 2 feet up on one wall, and that is it.

So, my ladies have been laying in that open topped clear box, and on the back edge of their poop tray.

I am happy, too happy to bother building nest boxes.

My poop tray is full of PDZ, so the eggs are always spotlessly clean.

Point being....who cares?  As long as your hens lay someplace you can find the eggs, where the eggs stay clean, great.

True!

 

[BillM2]

I built a couple out of plywood (there are many plans and ideas online) but also am using those plastic, stacking file shelves that were so popluar a decade ago. They're pretty good and all I did was put a couple of screws through to the coop's wall. Just be sure whatever you use, there's some type of lip in front to keep your nesting material in the nest itself.

 

[Michelle333]

Im still fairly new to raising chickens but am gathering that they arent real picky about their nesting boxes. To make long story short, my six little leghorns started laying in the coop before we could get their nests built. They have been laying very well in one huggies diaper box for the last month and a half. :/ lol I almost dont want to disrupt this now until we get a bigger coop built to accommodate more chickens.