Topic of the Week - Nest boxes

[NorthTexasWink]

I remember trying the bucket nests long ago. I had problems with them being too small, prone to cracking/splitting and being harder to keep clean. Frankly, building nests out of them was, for me, harder than just banging some scrap wood together to make a more traditional nesting area. YMMV. Like I say all the time, there is no right way that always works for everyone.

 

[The Angry Hen]

I love the idea of lavender (!)... and curtains... Very good. Would the hens prefer DEEPER boxes, to add to the feeling of cosiness and safety?

And something else... Someone wrote on another thread about the vertical barrier at the front of the box, with the box on the floor. During the last days of brooding he made it higher so the first hatching chicks couldn't run out. The mother would possibly follow and while protecting the chick, leave the rest of the eggs to go cold. On day, say, twenty-three, he would remove the barrier. The hen and all hatched chicks could go out in the separate coop and back in, with no risk to the eggs. With a deeper box the starter and water could also be at the front of the box...

Hello There,

Thank you for liking my ideas!
Good question... Well, they might enjoy the deeper boxes. Probably about a foot and half deep is how far I would go. My hens seem to like it.

Shallow won't bug them either, but lets say another fellow hen or "broody newcomer" decided to join a hen in a box. What would you do? Maybe deeper would be the way to go!

I wish you the best of luck and hope my ideas help, I would suggest whatever you want to do! It also depends on what your hen might want... What their personality, do they like space / avoid others or do they enjoy other's company.

Have a wonderful evening!

Sincerely,
~The Angry Hen

 

[MrPepers]

- What do you use for nest boxes?
I use 1 cubic foot nest boxes made from plywood.
- What bedding materials do you use in your nest boxes?
Wood shavings from my local feed store.
- Maintaining your nest boxes. (Cleaning, pest control, etc)
Add shavings as needed, replace every few months. Never had a problem with pests.
- Managing broody hen(s) in the nest box.
I break their broodiness or move them to a special place to hatch eggs.
- How do you make your nest boxes attractive for the hens? (I.e. encourage them to use the boxes, instead of dropping their eggs all over the yard)
I've never had to show my hens where to lay, they just learn from the older hens.
- How do you discourage your hens from sleeping in the nest boxes?
Don't ever have problems with that. Mine love their tree branch roosts.

 

[kingchickies]

Buckets can be too small for some birds, hard to turn around in.
The HC fronts would make it hard to injurious to get into the nests.
The lower nests have no perch in front, making it very difficult to get into nest.
Wonders if the uppers are used more than the lowers?
Just a few things I see that might be causing problems.
New layers can take up to a month or so for things to smooth out.

I have more using bottom than top. They just hop right in. And the top ones are close to our roosting area and I have 2 that stand there waiting to get in the middle top. They just hop over from roost. I even put a plastic wash bin on floor for them to see if they would use it. They just get behind it and lay. Lol but now I'm worried about changing things up too much for my ones that like the buckets. Ugh

 

[woodenfarm]

We have a coop that we built with nesting boxes but, just moved all 10 of our hens to a new run and coop area. We are using thick milk crates and cutting down the side some and leaving a little lip area in front so the eggs will not roll out. Our ladies seem to like the ones on the ground along the wall besides the ones that we mounted.
We have been using shavings but thought about trying straw next time.

 

[User395221]

I've finally read this thread, but I've woken up feeling crappy, so I may not have absorbed much of it properly - sorry if I rehash something already dealt with.

I let my 2 clucky chooks hatch some babies at the end of last year. 2 silkies and one of the polish/silkie crosses and set up permanent camp in one of the nest boxes. Blocking them off really isn't attractive - firstly because I've seen other girls in there in the afternoon, they don't just lay first thing and I'm too lazy to be going out there and I'll forget to reopen them and then I'll have eggs all over.

I suppose I have to try to stop these chooks being clucky. Or let them have some baby eggs to sit on?

In the big girls' house, I bought them a rollaway nest box. They wouldn't go near it, they would lay BEHIND it. I then got the bright idea to move its position to where they were laying, and then they (or at least one of them, I suspect the others are using the garden) started using it. Note to self: don't provide things and expect the chickens to use them. Let the chickens tell you what they'll use and where they want it to be.
My 2 new little girls are using one side to sleep in, I have to get them out.....
I've just cut some artificial grass liners to give that a try.

 

[NorthTexasWink]

Some folks find adding curtains to their nest boxes makes a big difference. Just throwing that out there.

 

[User395221]

True confession...

The clucky girls are now sitting on baby eggs.

The little girls are out of the nest box. No poo on the artificial grass. Winner!

 

[FlyWheel]

I meant the rubber that disappeared from the tire tread..

Ever notice there is usually an awful lot of black dust along the sides of the really busy roads?

 

[ChuSayBok]

You all have some great setups. Mine is in a state of flux, with 2 main semipermanent structures where most of my mature layers are.

I have a litterbox (covered and waterproof, they love that,)
a wooden box (antique)
several plastic milk crates (cheap, but not heavy enough, have to be weighted or tied down and if on the ground have something waterproof so the inside stays dry; I put two high up on a shelf and secured them there, but like BYCforlife mentioned, that's not good for hatchlings; neither is the wooden box nor the litterbox when they are new, b/c they can't get out.. the crates have holes so they can jump back in easily. from the floor. or ground.

My favorite boxes are the ones I made into my truly mobile coop which my bigger half was certain would collapse under the weight of itself. I made the mistake of putting caster wheels on it, which worked beautifully before the unprecedented summer rains set in. The structure itself is solid as a jungle gym, but my wheels were a dismal failure; I'm reduced to moving it with a large pvc pipe, but with some effort, I can still move it by myself.. The boxes came as a result of quandary over what would be the cheapest (as I had already spent too much money on wood and hardware) and add the least amount of weight. I had bought a large roll of hardware cloth that I didn't use on the project, so I cut the mesh and bent the sharp little spikes basket style in two rectangles.. I was making it up as i went, so it's not as neat as I would have liked, but it wasn't bad. The idea for the top was stolen from a prefab coop at tractor supply that had the hinged lid at the top and the boxes and openings to the outside so you don't have to enter the coop to collect the eggs. The inside opening is next to a perch; ideally they will roost on the perch, and most did before I moved them out and moved my babies in. One or two prefer to roost in a nest though, so it has to be cleaned. My youngest layer, Raja, loves this nest. It is easy to clean; I use dried mowed grass for all my nests in the summer and fallen leaves when the grass isn't growing. These nests are not intended for broody hens; if that happens, I will have to address the issue.

Here is one of the boxes before I divided it into 2 sections (there is one on each side of the back, for a total of 4 nests.) I accidentally deleted the other photos, but the second shows how I wrapped the tines. They are very sharp and will cut you if you aren't careful, but I chalked that up to extra predator protection. I keep the top part plus most of the basket covered with a tarp for summer; will have to winterize soon enough.