Show me your Nest Boxes!

[Mtn Laurel]

I've got 8 girls and they're large, one is Orpington size. Not as large as your Jersey's but still good sized birds that need a lot of room. My communal nesting box is 4 ft. wide but is about 24 in. tall and about 14 in. deep. It's a bit of an optical illusion as the top is slanted on both the interior and exterior, giving them a tall spot inside so it's easy for them to stand up.

From the inside, you can see how the interior roof portion is slanted and that gives the box a lot of height. The height goes all the way up to the 2 x 4 beam that is immediately under the window.



From the outside, you can see how the exterior portion of the nesting box has a slanted roof that also goes all the way to the beam under the window. That has since been covered in tin. To open the box, the back panel unlatches and swings down.



The nesting boxes were the most difficult aspect of the coop to figure out and we had to keep searching to find pictures that would give us hints on how to construct them. I love how our box turned out and hope that this helps.

 

[Arcadia Chicken]

Just built these nesting boxes based on what I had for materials. I hope the ladies like them.

 

[shmeggs]

my new coop I built this spring with external nest box.

 

[gguineasfamily]

Sorry to hijack this thread, but I need ideas on how to construct nesting boxes for my Silkies and Guineas. Currently they are laying on the floor in the back of the coop. I've seen some very good ideas for nesting boxes but I'm wondering about making them out of plastic because we have a bit of a problem with lice. Do you think wood for the frame and then strong chicken mesh covered with plastic that's a bit like bubble wrap but thicker (I don't know what to call it but I have a lot of it left over from the pool cool cover)

Another thing I want to know is how to get my hens to actually lay in it. Last year my plan for a guinea nest box failed. It was a small cage filled with bushes but the guinea hens just kept laying in the back of the coop.

 

[aart]

Sorry to hijack this thread, but I need ideas on how to construct nesting boxes for my Silkies and Guineas. Currently they are laying on the floor in the back of the coop. I've seen some very good ideas for nesting boxes but I'm wondering about making them out of plastic because we have a bit of a problem with lice. Do you think wood for the frame and then strong chicken mesh covered with plastic that's a bit like bubble wrap but thicker (I don't know what to call it but I have a lot of it left over from the pool cool cover)

Another thing I want to know is how to get my hens to actually lay in it. Last year my plan for a guinea nest box failed. It was a small cage filled with bushes but the guinea hens just kept laying in the back of the coop.

Lice live and reproduce only on the birds, not in the structure like mites do.
The easier to clean- fewer layers of materials, cracks and crevices- the better for eliminating places for other pests to live.

You might get more and better answers if you ask about guinea nests in the guinea forum.

 

[gguineasfamily]

Thank you aart! I mainly want nest boxes for my Silkies as they are the ones who are sitting on the floor. I will think about the ideas in this thread.