Roll Away Nestboxes??

[mangled]

With all the rain we've been having lately here in Western PA, I'm really struggling to keep my eggs clean. The run attached to the coop is a mud bog, and even though they free range, whenever they walk into the coop, they're getting muddy, and the eggs are a MESS. I've been trying to get out there as often as possible to collect them, but the days that I'm not home all day, my eggs are a muddy mess, and I'm trying to gather them for sale as hatching eggs. I don't want to have to soak them to get them clean before I ship them, ya know?

Does anyone know of a website that has a page with plans to building roll away nest boxes? I'm sure my husband could muddle through a set, but I'd like to have a picture or plans when I approach him with a new honey-do project.

Thanks a bunch!!
Em

 

[Backyard Farm]

I am looking for same info...

 

[mangled]

Pennsylvania is 3 inches over it's annual rain for June and it's only the 11th. Plus, it's going to rain all weekend. We have sanded the runs and put down shavings, and it just adds to the problem.

I've simply resorted to Sweet PDZ to keep the smell down and praying for no more rain!!

Hopefully someone can help us. LOL

Em

 

[SunnybrookFarm]

I don't know about rolling boxes. The chicken is the one with the wet butt. lol. We gently wipe eggs with a rag with a little white vinegar. A few dabs and voila it is clean. We have also put straw in the nesting boxes and changed it often.
We live in the Pacific Northwest where rain and mud is the norm.

Or perhaps if you have a small coop you could temp put wire on the bottom and jack it up on blocks until the weather dries. A good tarp to cover open runs is also good with heavy rain.

On the plus side when we have torrential downpours it's like a party in the duck/gosling area.lol.

 

[mangled]

Well, if I can get in there every hour or so, they're not a mess. It's not so much their bottoms as their feet. It's only when the eggs are in there all day while I'm out that they're a mess. It seems to me if they would just roll away from the laying area, the problem would be solved. There are a few times a week that I just can't get out there. And with white shells, the mud stains the outsides of the egg. I've tried vinegar, it doesn't get rid of the stains.

We use pine shavings, and they're changed almost daily. Our mud is kind of a clay mix, and it's nasty. I've had my girls three years and have never had troubles like this.

Thanks-
Em

 

[ranchhand]

Hey, you're on BYC, you don't need any other website. BTW, the Search function is always a great option

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=287684

 

[Southernbelle]

Quote:
I was going to say, didn't Opa build some? Good searching, Ranchie!

 

[mangled]

I forgot about the search option. Been away for a while.

Thanks soooo much!!

Em

 

[onthespot]

I was brainstorming with a friend how to make instant, ultra cheapo rollaway nest boxes and we came up with a five gallon plastic bucket set at an angle in a cardboard box, and a hold cut at the back end for the eggs to roll out, and shavings in the cardboard box.

 

[gryeyes]

Oh, yes, Opa makes wonderful things, and if you e-mail him, he can send you his cut list and narrative for putting the boxes together. I built a two nest rear rollaway unit for my new coop and he was SO helpful when I had further questions! My photos aren't of the construction of the rollaway nest, just how it fits into (and out of) the coop.

Just installed during the coop construction:

How it looks from the outside, from a distance:

Inside the coop, through the wall: