New "Broody" house - nest boxes....

[cnj-tx50]

We have a large coop with 30 birds but I wanted a separte coop for the ones that wanted to set. My wonderful hubby has started an 8x8 coop and I am wanted to put 4 nest boxes in. 1.) should they be floor level but with enough "lip" in the front to keep the shaving from falling out and (2) are shaving ok? Also, have a question on how long mom will stay with them before I should return her to the main coop. I am fencing in the yard area for the 2nd coop but everyone else will free range all day.

 

[flgardengirl]

I put my nest boxes up off the ground a few feet to keep mice or other critters out of them. I would add at least a 2-3 inch lip on them to keep the chicks from falling out and you can use pine chips to line it. You can add a ramp or ladder for them to climb up and a 2 x 4 in front of the nest boxes so the hens can jump up on and walk along to get into the next box of thier choice. The coop building forum has a lot of good ideas on nest boxes.