seperate coop and nesting area?

[ki4got]

I'm wondering if anyone's set up seperate nests from their coop area? i have a small coop that's fine for the birds to roost in, but i only put in 2 nests, (without a divider) and now i've got 1 broody taking over the whole thing and won't let anyone else in... I was wondering if i set up a seperate nesting area outside the coop, how hard would it be to convince them this is where they need to lay?

I was thinking of using milk crates stacked to form a larger nest area, maybe attached to the outside of the coop and covered to protect from the weather?

 

[kuntrygirl]

Do you have any pics of your setup? Is the outside area that you are talking about, covered?

 

[BarefootMom]

could you just move your broodie?

I would rather move the broodie than make new nestboxes.

 

[kuntrygirl]

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That's a good idea.

 

[ki4got]

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well part of it, is that everyone's free ranged, and i've got a total of 8 bantam hens, with a 2-holer box... so i really should have more box anyways. (ended up with 3 roos to 8 hen ratio from a hatchery assortment, was figuring the 5/6-ish ratio)

and yes, i could move the broody, but i've already got 1 house hen in a tub, and hubby might balk at 2. LOL i'm going to try relocating her to a cat carrier on the floor of the coop, but barring that not sure what to do there. house hen "gray" chose poorly for nesting location and ended up nearly frozen from last fri's ice/snow mess - looks like 9/15 eggs are good tho - not bad for having a frozen river running under them when i got her.

what i was thinking of doing on the coop was using one existing wall and put the crates against it (secured so they don't topple) and put a roof/sides on the crates but leave them open...as i type this i don't see it working but i can hope?

what i'd really like to do is turn the horse trailer into the "egg room" but first we need to rehome the motorcycles LOL someone's already laying up between the front tires, so i know they like it.