Show Me Your Nest Boxes! + Other Questions

[Ilovemyduckies]

I use an old dog house. That has worked just fine for me.

 

[4-H chicken mom]

I also use plastic flower pots as nesting sites, but I have one that likes to lay eggs in an old chicken box that I never took out when the ducks moved in.

 

[Dances with Ducks]

I have my ducks in dog house type dwellings at night and either section off a space with a board for a nest box or set up plastic bins as nest boxes. The only problem I've run into is if the sides are ten inches or more tall, most of the hens are too lazy to get into it. Guess that's a big difference between ducks and chickens. Some of them even won't use them unless the sides are less than four inches. If the bin is too light weight and so its tippy I will put a board in it under the bedding it to weigh it down.
It helps a lot to encourage them to lay in the nest if you put down a wooden egg. Also pine shavings seem to have more appeal than straw in my experience and keep the eggs cleaner too.
Another thing seems to be to locate the nest box as far away from the door as possible, and also away from any ventilation openings too. We cut pop doors behind or above the nest box location so it isn't so difficult to retrieve the eggs, as long as they lay them where they're supposed to.
I have Welsh Harlequins and a few other breeds and the WH seem to be better than some of the other breeds about using the nest boxes.