Suggestions for 'homemade" nesting boxes

[mommissan]

I used milk crates stuffed with shredded corrugated cardboard. The girls would roost on top of them and their poop would fall through all over the eggs. So, I ditched the crates, and just put up a privacy wall. Eggs are cleaner, girls are happier and I'm waiting to see what they have up their sleeves next.

 

[CarolynF]

From scrap plywood we built a box that's about 12" square and about 14" tall. The top is slanted to discourage them sitting (and pooping) on top. There is a lip in the front to keep the nesting material from getting kicked out. Originally it was only 2" but we increased it to 4". When necessary two birds will share, but it's tight.

 

[Hillschicks]

My dad uses a box i made him, a milk crate, and a cheap tote from the dollar store... I made mine, it was pretty easy and cost me a piece of cheap plywood... My coop is 7 x 8 ... I decided on 16" deep nest boxes.. so i cut a 7'x16" piece of plywood for a base, and used a scrap 2x4 to make 19" high legs for it... At this point it was a 7 foot long piece of plywood on legs... I used the rest of the plywood to make a 4 inch lip on the front, 3 divider pieces, and a top that i hinged for easy egg removal... Final cost $13 for a sheet of cheap plywood... Results 4 - 16"x16" nest boxes... Very much over kill as i dont get anymore eggs than my dads milk crate, but i occupied myself one saturday, my chickens are happy, and i later found the 7 foot x 16 inch area under the next boxes (19" high) made for a perfect and easy area to fence off when introducing new chicks to my flock... That way the bigs can get use to the chicks without the ability to harm them

 

[Mrsroeder2012]

I use 5 gallon buckets, works great

 

[Stumpy]

I made these out of scraps of plywood and molding. They are underneath a poop tray. If I had to do it over, I would have made the lower fronts taller; in other words, the openings smaller.

 

[Hillschicks]

Chickens really dont care... They want a dark secluded area preferably with privacy... One of my fathers chickens went into the shed regularly to lay in a storage shelf... They dont care, as long as they have somewhere