Open-top Nesting Box Debate

[mistymeadowchicks]

Quote:
Hahah. Flavor of the week nesting! They do tend to have minds of their own.
My girls came from a flock of 200+ they all squabbled over the darkest boxes.

OK guys! Per my hens, the ideal dimensions for a nesting box are those of a toilet tank box turned on its skinny side at a 45 degree angle (have no idea how they turn around in it--must either back in or out). I gathered 6 eggs from it in the morning, 2 later in the afternoon, broke the dang thing down that evening. FYI, the ideal DEPTH of bedding is 5 FEET or a 5' X 6' round bale turned on its side in a 2 sided run-in shed. Found 22 in their hide-away nest there last week. '

' I have no idea why they quit using their carefully researched, attached to the outside of the coop nesting boxes that were fine for the first 6 months! '

' Don't you love free-ranging hens?

 

[secuono]

I have 5gal buckets in the coop for nests. I rather them in the coop so I can do other chores while I'm there. Check on chickens, fill water, fill 4 food bowls, clean up a bit and most important for me, get out of the freezing cold/heat/rain/snow/etc.

 

[swimmer]

Quote:
They might roost on the dividers between the boxes and mess up the laying area. I had open ones and that is what happened to me. I think the oval ones sound nicer and will be darker and more "nest like" for the hens.

 

[Paganrose]

It might also depend on your weather, In the winter nest boxs on the outside, with hatch doors will be a lot colder, might end up with frozen eggs. But again with the open boxs, chickens will roost on the dividers, and make a mess.

 

[Wisher1000]

Here are my questions. First, who owns the coop? Who's property is it on? If it is yours you can make improvements as you see fit. If it is on someone else's land or if someone else paid for it then you need to clear it with them, first. But couldn't you have both? Why not do the quick, on the floor, boxes out of something handy then you can work on your project at your own pace and add it when it is finished? I'm sure that when everyone sees what a great job you did they will be happy to have it! Then the hens can decide which is prefered. The people will have their choice of where they go to get eggs. What do ya'll think?

Edited for a typo an added detail

 

[stilldeb]

Mine don't seem to mind size, shape, darkness, etc, but do seem to like being up off the floor somehow or other. I have two loose nesting boxes in one coop that I attached up on one side wall, and the other coop has nesting boxes off both sides that open from the outside. Was also told by my next door neighbor who is a "real farmer" (I am a backyard chicken keeper) that they like being up off the floor to lay their eggs.

deb g

 

[patandchickens]

I do not think there is a simple yes-no good-bad do-this-don't-do-that answer.

There are (a lot of) people who get good results from pretty much ANY setup you can think of. There are also a number of people who've had really poor luck with certain designs, for pretty much any design type you can think of

Personally, I've used closed-top nestboxes on the floor, a large fairly-open but technically closed-topped nestbox on the floor, closed-top nestboxes above the floor, and more-or-less-open-topped nestboxes above the floor... and ALL of them have worked about equally well for me.

I would conclude that it probably depends a lot on the details of your coop and on your particular chickens.

I would suggest just pick something, build it, see if it works, if it doesn't then alter it

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[sharol]

I agree with most of the posters. Chickens will decide what they like. Today I had 5 eggs in the nest boxes and one on the floor of the coop between the waterer (up on cement blocks) and the end wall of the coop. Scout (my Golden Campine) lays just about anywhere -- middle of the floor, in a nest box, back in the corner by the waterer. My nest boxes are 2 cement blocks up from the floor.

They are 12" cubed with a removable top for cleaning. All but one of my 7 use the nest boxes, and she sometimes does when the mood hits her (she is a real character -- I really recommend Campines for white eggs). They are inside the coop because it is a metal building, and it was going to be too hard to support them through the wall. I'm really glad I did it this way. We have had a brutally cold winter, and so far, no frozen eggs.

edit: If I were doing it again, I would put the perch on the front further from the openings - it is on a 4" base and needs to be closer to 6 or 8. They are LF and it is a bit tight especially for the GLW and the Welsumer.

I put wood shavings in the end ones and straw in the middle one, and all of them get used. Usually by the same pullets. My EE Lily always lays her green egg in the box furtherest right, and the GLW always lays her pink egg in the furtherest left, and my Welsumer always lays her dark speckled egg in the middle one. It's like Christmas every day. They have definite opinions about which bedding they prefer, and so far kept the bedding clean (been laying about 3 weeks).

 

[nwfl]

Is there room to do both? I hate taking up floor space but after my orps get broody on a clutch they like the floor.

 

[TreeHugger]

I do not recommend open top nest boxes on the floor. I did these for my silkies and here were the 2 main issues I had:

First, mice were getting under and behind the nest boxes and building nests. I clean out the coop every 3-4 weeks and this was long enough to have issues.
Second, the other silkies were trying to roast on top of the nest boxes at night and were pooping on the ones below.
Just my two cents!