Show us your nest boxes! Ingenous design post it here!

[CordovaAK]

Finally got rid of the old plywood and tar paper boxes. Had some lumber leftover from the wood shed. Turned out nice.

 

[Kmhv04]

Finally got rid of the old plywood and tar paper boxes. Had some lumber leftover from the wood shed. Turned out nice.

Beautiful! Do you find they can access the upper box portion easily enough?

 

[aart]

Finally got rid of the old plywood and tar paper boxes. Had some lumber leftover from the wood shed. Turned out nice.

Neato...... needs perches out front.

 

[CordovaAK]

Mine will fly up to the top of the coop some times so no problems reaching the upper box. I'm always surprised how high they jump with little flapping. They're fairly heavy birds too. Rock/Orpington crosses.

 

[aart]

Mine will fly up to the top of the coop some times so no problems reaching the upper box. I'm always surprised how high they jump with little flapping. They're fairly heavy birds too. Rock/Orpington crosses.

They will probably need something to land on before entering nest...maybe not tho.

 

[CordovaAK]

There's a small lip on the front, but they just jump right in to the nest. No problema.

 

[kitten4686]

Just picked up these stackable storage bins from Walmart for around $4.00 a piece.... figured they would work for a nesting box still working on putting everything together I'll post pictures along the way

 

[aart]

Just picked up these stackable storage bins from Walmart for around $4.00 a piece.... figured they would work for a nesting box still working on putting everything together I'll post pictures along the way

10" is not really tall enough for chicken to be comfy in, they actually stand up almost full height when egg comes out.
They might be too lightweight too, if bird stands on edge and it tips, they'll avoid them like the plague.

 

[kzas]

Made our nest boxes today. I used things we had on hand (the boxes themselves are the cheapy target cube things that we had sitting in the basement) and the top is leftover from our fence! They're not perfect, but not too shabby for my first time using a saw?! Hubby almost fell over when he saw what I made! haha.

I somehow lost a G, not sure how that happened, but I'm hoping it will turn up!

I also have a question. I almost always see pictures and read directions with nest boxes that have hay. Is there a reason hay is preferable over shavings? Are there other materials that work well?

 

[kitten4686]

10" is not really tall enough for chicken to be comfy in, they actually stand up almost full height when egg comes out.
They might be too lightweight too, if bird stands on edge and it tips, they'll avoid them like the plague.

Using them as liners
Coop is still a work in progress but this is what I have so far