Pro and cons of outside or inside access to nesting boxes???

[poconoadoptionfamily]

I'm trying to decide whether to have outside or inside access to the nesting boxes..My main concern is that an exterior egg gathering door could freeze up in winter. We live in the mountains and get a lot of snow up here. .... Thanks, Denise


Wife to Andrew ..who is slowly warming up to having chickens.
Mother to Almost 7YO Evan who is SOOO Excited about having chickens that he can barely contain himself.
Servant to 2 cats who would like to eat, I mean meet the chickens.
1 joyous and chaotic household.

 

[mississippifarmboy]

All our current nest boxes are inside access, but if I ever get the new breeder pens finished they will be outside access due to small hutch sizes. I think it's more a personal choice. I like to "Visit" with the chickens while I'm gathering the eggs so inside works best for me.
I have friends in Montana that get lots of snow and they have a small coop with outside access nest boxes, I've never heard of them having any trouble with anything freezing up, but then again you'll get far fewer eggs in the winter anyway. (Unless you add electric lights)

 

[JP33]

Last winter there was discussion on here about extreme cold and whether it would freeze chickens. A lot of folks on here said they never lost a chicken from really cold weather.

I live way down south and we don't get below freezing very often. I found my chickens really like the cold weather.

My nest boxes are outside types. I like them and so do my hens.


...JP

 

[ScotH]

I've been going back and forth about that too, but as stated above we rarely get deep freeze temps... If you have a pretty good size coop you can put them inside and have a small access panel near the boxes.

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

I would never have outside access nest boxes because I like going in to check things out in the coop while I'm gathering eggs. I would think, if you're not going in the coop, you would miss seeing a sick bird, miss scraping the roost of stray poo, making sure everythings in order for bed time.

 

[Luckytaz]

I would put them inside, unless the coop, is to small to walk in.

 

[kichohana]

I like my exterior nestboxes. I don't have to go inside to gather eggs - but then again, I don't have a walk-in coop either! I had to keep my "operation" small and on the down-low if you know what i mean.

I think I understand what you mean about the door freezing on an exterior nest box. If you're concerned about the egg box doors freezing up, design it differently. I've seen some awesome nestboxes with the doors that open from the front like a kitchen cupboard. Some are designed to have just a small door hole (6x6 or 8x8) on hinges to reach a hand in. Mine are under the roof overhang so they are mostly sheltered from rain and the little snow we get here in NC. I'm certainly not gonna worry about my birds being cold - they came with down and feathers. I had to buy down and feathers to make my bed warm!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Not exactly sure where you are located but your name gives me a possible clue. For questions like this, might I suggest you modify your profile to give us a better clue to your weather.

I don't know what your coop looks like. For one of those tiny elevated coops, outside access makes sense.

I put in outside access to my nest boxes and almost never use it. I've got a walk-in coop so it is just as easy to go inside. I also like to check on things inside the coop when I collect eggs. Once I found a dead hen. Another unrelated time, I found a big black snake that was eating eggs in the middle of the afternoon.

When pullets start to lay, they will often not lay in the nest boxes. Sometimes they drop them from the roosts or on the floor. You'd never know that if you don't go in.

You can overcome these potential problems by proper construction, but outside access can be route for predators to get into your coop. Unless they are constructed properly, they can leak in a rain. Hens normally like to lay in darker places. I know, who has normal hens. Anyway, depending on how they are constructed, they can let in light which "might" cause a hen to not want to lay in the nest.

If you have a mean rooster and small children collecting eggs, it may protect them from the rooster.

If you are worried about stepping in chicken poop when collecting eggs, you need to change your attitude and wear old shoes.

When I have a broody on eggs, I sometimes find the outside access to be convenient.

Every one of us has a different situation. There is seldom one right answer for all of us on any question. Sounds like you are trying to gather information to make an informed choice for your situation. Good luck!

 

[grandmaof5]

My coop is really too small to walk around in (4 x7 but only 5 ' tall at the peak), but we haven't put exterior nestboxes in just because we're hurrying (yeah, whatever) to get it finished. For now, I'll put in one of those plastic milk cartons and hang it on a couple of screws about a foot off the ground, and close to the door; when I open the door to give food and water, the nest box will be close enough just to reach in. We get a couple of weeks of very cold weather here, but everyone has said hens can tolerate cold as long as they are draft-free, but I don't want frozen eggs, so for now, the nest box will be the milk carton .

 

[scarter]

I have to walk inside my coop anyway to make sure the water heater is working correctly and that the girls are all ok. My eggs freeze in the coldest part of the winter anyway unless I'm in there right away. I've had chickens lay on the roost during the night as well as in corners. I'd think unless you can check on everything from the outside you'd want inside access.