This might sound confusing.....

[XilverAngel]

But in our coop, most nest boxes have a piece of wood or something against the edge to create a box-like structure. Our nest boxes don't have that. It is just plain open, as in the opening does not have a piece in front of it.

http://www.buildeazy.com/photo-chicken-coop-beat-3.gif

in the picture there is a slab of wood nailed all in the front of the boxes, on the bottom, that piece of wood that keeps the shavings in, if we don't have that, is that a big deal? It might be kind of hard to put it in, but i've noticed that the girls keep pecking out the covering i put in there...

 

[G Wiz Ranch]

I would put one in just to keep the bedding in place. Without it, you could even lose an egg.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
If you don't have a sill to keep the shavings in, the shavings tend NOT to stay in, and it really is desirable to have shavings (or whatever) in there.

Also you do not want eggs themselves getting rolled out. Remember that multiple hens will usually use a single box in succession, and they do move each others' eggs around. I periodically have eggs rolled out of nestboxes that are sitting on the floor; on the floor this is no big deal but aloft it sure would be

It should be very easy to install a sill on your nestboxes, just take a strip of 1x4 or 4-6" wide scrap plywood and screw it to the front of the line of boxes

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Mr. Peepers]

I see two problems:

1. You need a sill in front of the box to keep bedding and eggs in. Chickens will scratch out the bedding and some will push out eggs that aren't theirs. A sill will help prevent both.

2. Chickens will roost (and poop) on the open edges of the top of the nest boxes. You don't want poop in your nest box do you?

Add a sill and cover the top of the nest boxes.

 

[gsim]

A good alternative is to build them on a slant to where the back of the box is two to three inches lower than the front. That should eliminate the need for a lip at the edge to retain litter and keep eggs from rolling out. And, no place to perch& poop. You could use 5 gal plastic buckets set so that they are higher in the front than in the back, yet are on their sides with the handles down to prevent rolling from side to side. Cut a hole in the back for ventilation so that it is not too hot in there. Easy to take outside to hose down periodically. I have 12x12x4 deep boxes, but may switch to buckets if I don't see improvement in the poop problem. I have added some more higher roosts and that may have taken care of the poop problem. Chooks have seemingly lost interest in perching on box edges.

 

[XilverAngel]

Mr. Peepers :

I see two problems:

1. You need a sill in front of the box to keep bedding and eggs in. Chickens will scratch out the bedding and some will push out eggs that aren't theirs. A sill will help prevent both.

2. Chickens will roost (and poop) on the open edges of the top of the nest boxes. You don't want poop in your nest box do you?

Add a sill and cover the top of the nest boxes.

We have a cover for the nest boxes, its just the sill that we dont have, thanks for the tips though!​