About 2 months ago, I made two nest boxes out of 18 gallon rubbermaid totes. I put a hole in the wide side and stuffed it with straw. It has been working great. The straw stays dry, the eggs stay clean and the hens love it. Yesterday afternoon, I went out to collect eggs and found one of the totes flipped over on its side with the hole facing down. I went to right it and it was heavier than it should have been. I popped the lid off to find a dead hen inside. She apparently got trapped in there earlier in the day and the box was in the sun all morning. The day was only in the mid 70's but it was enough to kill her. To prevent this from happening again, I put paving stones in the bottom of the tote. If I make more in the future, I will be putting the access hole in the narrow side of the tote as it is unlikely to tip over in that direction to trap a bird.
