outdoor nest boxes?

[wava1vaughn]

We have several breeds so we keep them separated. If you only have one breed then the door is unimportant. Our nest boxes are mounted so we can collect the eggs from the outside.

 

[pattydarius]

I've found lots of dog runs on craigslist that are pretty inexpensive. You just have to take them down and transport them. Too big for my 4 chickens, but a good cheap alternative to building a small run, and you can keep the coop inside.

 

[eggsellentfarms]

The second question is, can I keep the coop door open all the time since the run will be safe from predators? (There will be protection on all sides and above.)

This depends on the predators in your area. For many years I lived on the edge of small town. The chickens and ducks had a open top, fenced run about 30 by 75 with the coop door opening to the inside of the run. I never closed the coop door, and fortunately never had any problems with predators.
Now I live way out in the country and a six foot fence is not enough to keep my birds safe at night. Everybody gets locked in the coops at night and the one coop that has an enclosed 10 by 6 run also has 1 inch chicken wire over the chain link fencing to (hopefully) keep out weasels as well.
So, I guess if you are confident your run will keep out the predators, then don't worry about the closing the door. Otherwise, better safe than sorry.

 

[blucoondawg]

in a warm climate I wouldn't worry about having an internal nest box just build your external boxes so the birds feel they have some privacy it is not different than people with open air coops, however make sure your coop/run setup is fully predator proof to small vermin like weasels and snakes, if you don't have small enough mesh to keep them out I would prefer to lock them in a coop for the night