I notice a lot of henhouse pics show the nesting boxes sticking out from the main structure. The answer is probably in this forum, but can anybody sum it up for me? Benefits? Not so good aspects? My husband and I are going to be building soon and I want to do good this time around. You wouldn't believe what got put up the first time ... Thank goodness we didn't get chickens then
Most people that have nest boxes that extend out from their coops build it this way to maximize the amount of square feet of floor space in their coops. It is my belief that for the size of these coops even putting the nest boxes extending out from the coop is allocating too much room to nests for the number of chickens that the coop can hold. For instance a 4x8 coop with this type of nest box can hold (at 4 sq ft per bird 4x8=32 sq ft div. by 4=8 birds) 8 birds only need 2 nest boxes and will probably only use 1 but, these coops usually have 4 nest boxes. If you live in a cold climate your eggs will probably freeze. I use black plastic vegetable bins with removable lids. They are 2.5" deep before the opening which leaves plenty of room for a deep hay layer that won't fallout. Pictured below is my bantam cochin hen with her chicks. The wooden ramp is so the chicks can get back in to the nest.
Hi Brookliner, what is the grid like wire above the nesting box? And, is the nest box vegetable bin on the floor of the henhouse? I cant quite figure out the orientation of the bin. Never seen one like it! We're planning a henhouse that is 8 x 8; plenty of room for a growing flock! Nesting boxes "far" away from roosts? Feeder in the middle-ish? Any suggestions welcome. I like being reminded that external nesting boxes and cold climate don't mix!.