Show me your nest boxes! + some questions

[OurSufficientLife]

We need to get nest boxes in order for our coop in the next month or so. We are thinking since it gets pretty cold here in the winter (some nights below zero), we might want to avoid metal ones. Those of you in colder climates, is that even an issue?

Does anyone use the roll away type? What about the fold up perch bar that keeps them from sleeping in them at night? Are these features worth it?

In general, we like to recycle materials, but my husband is handy and can build wooden ones if we need.

People use so many different things for nest boxes - would love to see some pics and get your thoughts on what is best/easiest to use - if you could pick the absolute best nest boxes, what would you use?

Thanks in advance!

 

[aart]

Here's a BUNCH of nests.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/show-us-your-nest-boxes-ingenous-design-post-it-here.41108/

Here's mine:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/albums/nests.7427682/

 

[DobieLover]

I have a room at the front of my coop that I use for storage, a built-in brooder a.k.a Maternity Ward and the nest boxes.
I have since installed 4 divider panels in this box to make five nest areas. As many as 28 hens have used these 5 boxes with no issue.
I like the curtains. I don't think the hens care. The rooster sure doesn't!

If you will be building exterior access boxes, I would make a solid, immobile pitched roof with about a 3-4" over hang and a panel that drops down in back like you see above. Having a roof that raises up leaves a pivot point along the wall where water can penetrate into the coop and get the nests wet.
I like this building design for bump out nests.

To keep my eggs from freezing in the winter, I use seedling heating mats. I laid three along the bottom of the above box and anchored them with thin strips of wood screwed to the bottom of the nest box, not through the mat. I plug them into a switch controlled receptacle and turn them on when I need them to be on. They could also be controlled with a thermo-cube but that would leave them on all night when no one is in there laying.
The mats are vinyl so can be easily cleaned if they become soiled.
I used to put chopped straw in the nest boxes but have found that a flake of baled wheat straw works wonderfully and it keeps the eggs much cleaner. As the straw breaks down, the chaff will stick to the bloom when it's drying. It's annoying to have to get all that off the eggs.

 

[RobinGel]

Very nice coop!
How many chickens do you have?

 

[DobieLover]

Very nice coop!
How many chickens do you have?

If you're asking me, I currently have 28 chickens. Two roosters, 21 hens and 5 chicks.

 

[AnnaWolf]

This is my current nest box, next year I am replacing the coop and I will replace it with a wooden one excesable from the outside of the run/coop.

 

[citymeetscountry]

We have a tractor and in the top coop area we just did a bump out (from old nest boxes we found in the coop built in our property-we cleaned/sanded/painted before using). Basically it’s a rectangle that sticks out the back with a divider and my husband put a “roof” on it that opens up to collect eggs from outside. (I don’t have pics right now)

 

[humblehillsfarm]

This one was a view of my old nest boxes in a currently inactive coop.

Now I have a new coop which can be subdivided into two for brooding, incubating, or breeding purposes or can be left as a whole coop. These are the nest boxes for it.

And these are the boxes in the main part of the coop. Sometimes the girls lay under the boxes rather than in. They always prefer the brooder boxes when available but currently that coop is for the guinea keets.


I have yet another building I have used as a coop, and I simply used old milk crates for the nest boxes, and the hens took to them immediately. Hens just want a place to feel safe, they don't discriminate based on looks.

 

[Boise-girls]

My current coop is a prefab with 3 builit-in nests on an upper level. The girls were one of those consistently, but I had to keep the access door propped open during the day because it was too hot. I also put a cardboard box with a nest liner down below where it is cooler. That was used occasionally. However - I added some ventilation and hardware cloth to the nest access door and now they will only use the cardboard box! ☺ That works for now, since we're getting a new coop in a couple of months.

 

[RobinGel]

If you're asking me, I currently have 28 chickens. Two roosters, 21 hens and 5 chicks.

I'm sorry I thought it copied your post when I tapped reply to your post .... Yes I was commenting on your nice bright white coop & asking about you flock