Outdoor nesting boxes??

[numamahen]

I have 25 - twenty week old Golden Laced Wyandotte pullets (or are they now hens??). My coop is 6x8 and I have a 10X12 enclosed run. My problem is they have just started laying and I only have 3 nesting boxes. They have the run of the yard, I know I am pushing the inside space with my birds however we had to have this many to get two matching pairs for my daughter's 4H project. My question is would birds go to nesting boxes if they were not in my coop? There is a shaded rock area on the side of my porch that I could mount some nesting boxes on. Would they use these? I know I need to butcher some of them - but wanted to see how the laying went. Also, they have been such good girls so far - very docile and love to be hand fed treats off of our laps. I also don't know if there would be a market for selling them as young layers. Any info would be great - thanks.

 

[vermontgal]

I have a portable nesting box that my girls use when they are outside in the movable 8x8 chicken pen. It's a 10 gal plastic container (dark colored). They still lay in it, even when the pen system moves around; however, my chickens are not free-ranging.

My chickens DO go up to the coop via the chicken tunnel / ladder to lay eggs during the day. It takes a fair amount of commitment to get to this nest box. This is quite a Rube Goldberg type of contraption, and if you haven't seen it, check out the video -
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkRc-Qz_bMY

 

[numamahen]

wow!!! that is incredible. If those girls can do that, I can't see why mine couldn't hop up 15 inches to a nesting box!! Thanks