padding for homemade rollout nest boxes

[KSH1]

My awesome husband built nest boxes but they're much bigger than the pads I see marketed. What works well that I can get in a roll or sheet and cut to fit? And how much padding do I need on the end board to stop the roll without breaking eggs? Thanks!

 

[jthornton]

I used a carpet runner with some thin foam underneath. I started adding the foam after watching a hen lay the egg, she does not lay it gently she drops it from a standing position. For the backstop I used some foam weather strip with sticky tape. One time I just made the carpet runner a bit long and let it slope up in the back but that made installing the false floor after cleaning more difficult.

JT

 

[KSH1]

Thanks, that sounds like a good plan. I will have to see where I can find foam.

 

[jthornton]

I used the foam sheet that covered a TV in the box but I keep everything lol... but any craft store should have closed cell soft foam like Hobby Lobby. Or double layers of mat should work...

JT

 

[Alaskan]

I saw one where the lady used the insulation that is used for pipes... so it is a long tube of insulation.

She put a heat tape through the middle of the tube.

The eggs roll up against the tube, don't break, AND do not freeze and pop open in the winter.