nesting boxes

[shahtir101]

Any ideas on diy portable nesting boxes, for bantams?

 

[biteme2134]

2-5 gallon buckets, Plastic kitty litter container,

 

[Ridgerunner]

Portable narrows it down some. I saw where someone had used a kitchen sink but those are too heavy to be considered portable.

Buckets which might be free at a deli or bakery and kitty litter bins are good suggestions. Some people use cardboard boxes. Milk crates are popular. A decent sized pot or pan can work. Plastic bins. Basically anything that is large enough that you can carry. Your only limit is your imagination. You can even build a box out of wood or some other material if you wish.

Something to remember. Hens often like to scratch in the bedding to get it just right before they lay the egg. If the nest is too flat or does not have enough of a lip to keep the bedding in they can scratch the bedding, any fake eggs, or even real eggs out of the nest. If you put any of these on their side or at an angle you might need to add a lip. If they are straight up and down that should not be necessary.

Another thing. Some of these things are going to be pretty light. Sometimes a hen hops on the rim instead of dropping straight into the nest. You might need some kind of frame to hold these in place to keep them from turning over but so you can still lift them out since you want them to be portable. I’ve stabilized buckets by screwing them into a convenient piece of wood using a fender washer but that makes them not portable.