Topic of the Week - Nest boxes

[ForTheLoveOfSilkies]

I have 22 Silkies, which includes 1 rooster and 2 cockerels.

I have just added 5 more nest boxes as I only had 3 but due to increase in chickens I have increased the nests.

Multiple levels and choices to pick from. 2 on ground level for broodies.

I encourage them to lay with a fake egg in the nest boxes so they get the idea where is a good spot. My rooster usually goes in a nest box to show the ladies where to go anyway.

I use sand, straw and wood shavings in the nests. I sprinkle with poultry mite powder every few weeks to help keep them pest free and change the bedding every now and again or if dirty.

Pics of inside my coop...

 

[BDutch]

I have a small (extended) prefab with two laying nests. Normally used by all hens to lay their eggs. Now 5 hens but also sufficient for 8 bantam hens (not every day layers). It has no curtains.

The lid is oriented south, and it got very hot in there. A car sun screen does wonders.

Inside. Last year when I had two black broodies.
During the first days, the hens made sure, the chicks stayed in this part of the coop. For the chicks I made a wide plank/board (with fabric) that was less steep than the stairs. The chicks could easily go up and down.

I have another seperate nest box (pic from the shop) and I used a simple cardboard wine box for laying nest when these two broodies occupied the regular nestboxes. But I had to seperate the broodies from the flock anyway because they were disturbed too much. They preferred the cardboard box under the roosts and poop board.

The other seperate nest box is just a few inches above the ground and a better accommodation for broodies. It was used for two broodies about 3 years ago. It was less safe but the other hens could go on with their usual routine withouth bothering the broodies.

 

[CurvyCoop]

I have three nest boxes for 6 girls, two hens and four pullets. It's a lot, I know. But I had SUCH problems getting my laying girls to lay in the right spot that I just put up a wide selection. Of course they only use one box now...

I bought an old, but unused liquor barrel from a thrift dump near me. I sawed it in half and sanded down any sharp edges and rough surfaces. Then, because I am really freaked out about the idea of mites, I sealed all the cracks with clear silicone sealant. I sealed every crack in my whole coop as well, there is nowhere to hide for mites in my coop.
I screwed a board to the front to keep the bedding in, the board also tilts the box a little bit so that holds the bedding in even more. Then I made some cute little curtains from fabric I had laying around. I sew for a living and for a hobby so I have QUITE a stash.
Because the barrels are round I drafted a round pattern so it would look right. I'm nothing if not extremely extra, so of course my nestbox curtains had to be properly hemmed and finished and fit the curvature of the barrel exactly. I even sewed in some real curtain pleats.
They are stapled to the inside in such a way that I can removed the staples relatively easily so I can wash them if I want to. They're cotton so they can take a serious washing if need be. I drilled some holes in the sides and threaded some leftover lace through it to hold the curtains open. I discovered after the first day that you need to put a double knot in the lace or your chickens will peck at it, get it loose, and trail it through the entire coop.
In the bottom picture I hadn't put up the curtains for the second one yet, but it shows what it looks like without them.
There's wood shavings in them for bedding and a fake egg to encourage them to lay there. The rest of the coop is sand and zeolite with a little DE.

I've also made a little raised nest box out of an old crate that I got from the same place as the barrel. I sanded that down too and sealed all the cracks as well. I painted it and placed a board in front to keep the bedding in and a little perch so they can hop on that before they hop in the box. I raised it just a little off the floor, just to give the option to any chickens that might prefer to lay there versus the barrel boxes. So far no one used it, but I've only got two laying hens right now and the rest is too young still. If no one ends up using it I might remove it eventually, but for now it's fine.

 

[saysfaa]

View attachment 2987147
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Nest boxes, those carefully designed coop essentials where we're all hoping our laying ladies would deposit the rent. (Note: hoping) This week I would like to hear you all's thoughts on all things "nest boxes"... Specifically:

- What do you use for nest boxes?
- What bedding materials do you use in your nest boxes?
- Maintaining your nest boxes. (Cleaning, pest control, etc)
- Managing broody hen(s) in the nest box.
- 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)
- How do you discourage your hens from sleeping in the nest boxes?

Anything you'd like to add?

I use old farm crates, bushel size - 14x16x18 inches, I think. Set on the shortest end. The crates are set in a raised wooden box/table to keep the bedding in. The edge of the box has pieces of stair railing attached to make a comfortable edge to land on when they fly up.

Bedding material is dried grass - mostly long, fine stemmed but some orchard grass is mixed in it. It is deep enough for them to arrange it higher than their backs as they set and still have a couple of inches under them.

I haven't needed to do anything except add more grass every few months. I took it all out once and replaced it thinking it must need cleaning down under it. I couldn't see any reason it did.

I haven't found any pests. I have the ingredients to make old fashioned whitewash. I plan to paint that on to discourage mites and lice when I get to it. Hopefully, that will be before either move in.

Mocha went broody. I don't have a rooster. I asked around for fertile eggs but couldn't find any nearby so I gave her some wooden eggs. I lifted her off the nest once or twice a day to make sure she took a break. I'm in there often and never saw her off the nest on her own initiative. I tried to get day old chicks; at day 28, I gave up on finding chicks, removed the wooden eggs, and lifted her off the nest often and at night. It still took a couple of days for her to give up.

Nesting in the crates is encouraged by the slats on the sides and top, being in the darkest corner of their space, being out of the most used pathways in their space. All making it as much like under a bush as I could. I also put their calcium and grit dispenser in the corner they picked for nesting before I had their crates ready. And gave them the long grass only in the crates.

I tried putting wooden eggs in the crates as the pullets began to lay but they rolled them out.

Only Mocha has ever slept in a nest, and only when she was broody. They work at getting as high as they can and their roost is a couple of feet higher than the nest.

 

[Regina Larsen]

View attachment 2987147
​

Nest boxes, those carefully designed coop essentials where we're all hoping our laying ladies would deposit the rent. (Note: hoping) This week I would like to hear you all's thoughts on all things "nest boxes"... Specifically:

- What do you use for nest boxes?
- What bedding materials do you use in your nest boxes?
- Maintaining your nest boxes. (Cleaning, pest control, etc)
- Managing broody hen(s) in the nest box.
- 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)
- How do you discourage your hens from sleeping in the nest boxes?

Anything you'd like to add?

View attachment 1062320

Pic by @zazouse​

For a complete list of our Topic of the Week threads, see here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/topic-of-the-week-thread-archive

Make em a fancy nestbox, they still go for the TS bale

 

[Liz Birdlover]

When I 1st got into chickens, I thought the idea of a few larger scale stairs, sort of like bleachers, could work well. The chickens could hop up the 3 steps, one at a time, reach the top, spin around with butt towards wall, then hunker down & roost for the night. Under their butts, against the wall, I had a poop chute, resembling a concrete truck chute, on a slight decline (since poop runs downhill - well, according to plumbers, that is their famous saying lol), with a bucket hanging at the chute's end, to catch poo.

The nest boxes were under the bottom step & the chickens used them perfectly right away!
In back of the nest boxes, under the 2 higher step "bleachers" was storage, with a little side door, where I stored my straw & wood chip bales. 3 bleacher type steps, each step 20" high. Looked great & seemed like a good idea at the time, in theory.

I knew about mites living in wood, I've had Pigeons for decades. Painting all surfaces with an outdoor grade paint helps, as well as being easier to clean.
I painted the entire inside of the coop, & figured why not get creative, mural style, blue sky & white puffy clouds on ceiling, flowering Dogwood trees on walls, grass & flowers near floor, all kinds of flowers, Forget me nots, Sunflowers, Marigolds, Tulips, etc., floors as well & then coated with a floor urethane. Bleachers were painted a pale green base then I added branches & flowers of Dogwood trees & I got a large window cling of flowering Dogwood, so the window was letting light in, but was not something a chicken would try to fly through. It was open at top for airflow. I painted Tulips all around the nest boxes. Yup, it was adorable, a work of art & seemed to work well...at 1st.

One issue...well the chickens did hop up 1 step at a time, BUT they didn't hop back down that way! Nope, they came down flapping like hell, from top step all the way outside through the door, when I opened it! Flying chickens & roosters as soon as I open the door? Talk about frazzled! Wasn't a safe way to start the day for me or my sweet birds. I realized that top step may be appealing to them to roost high, but 5 feet up is Too High if they're jumping down crazily...they could get hurt. Larger chickens & seniors as well as young birds...don't need a slipped tendon or broken leg so I soon realized this was not safe for them.

Also...
Chicken poop is runnier than pigeon poo, but Not as runny as I thought.
The clogged poop chute Always needed cleaning, and it got stinky. The bucket meant to catch runny poo, well it would have, but the poo was sticking to the chute...just didn't work as planned. Then "somebody" started laying an egg a day, in the poop chute, full of poop! Gross!

3rd issue, the steps of the bleachers Always needed poop scraping, because while at night the birds did poop into the chute, all throughout the day, the birds pooped EVERYWHERE else then stomped it down, so by the time I got home from work, I had to use a putty knife to scrape it all off the bleacher steps.

So yeah...I learned! Don't we all?!

Frazzled chickens bombing me the second I open the door each morning, then coming home from work to scrape & scoop Lots Of Poop, where poop wasn't "planned to accumulate" was obviously Not working. I ripped out the entire bleacher idea.

The coop had an interior remodel, where I used 2x4s to create perches, Not too high, so no one gets hurt.

Nest boxes were placed elsewhere, on the floor. I didn't want to be scraping poop off, so I made sloped tops, no one even tries to perch there. To keep the wood chips inside the nest box area, I just put a 2x4 there across the bottom. 1 nestbox per every 3 hens works well here. Sometimes they pile into the same box together, anyway...always seems to be the same ones snuggled, laying eggs at the same time, too. Funny girls.

I lost all 1st coop photos due to a phone mishap (the beautiful but disfunctional bleachers), but here are revamp interior pics, much more efficient & safe.

So in conclusion...what have I learned?

Things don't always go as planned, chickens have their own ideas & ways of doing things, so try to work along with them, considering their habits & preferences, safety 1st.

Also, Most Importantly, Always Consider the Poop Factor!

 

[Nurfsmom]

On the topic of nest box bedding, which my hens tell me I fail miserably at (nothing I put in the boxes, stays in there, NOTHING), this looks nice and has great reviews, has anyone tried it?

https://www.amazon.com/Precision-Pet-Excelsior-Nesting-Pads/dp/B00CAVMIK2/?tag=backy-20

I was not able to keep any kind of straw, hay, or chips at all in my nests. My hens would scratch it all out. I ended up with the silicone type nest liner pads and they have worked great! Easy to clean, too.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08BP7DFR...pY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU&th=1

 

[Nurfsmom]

My nesting boxes are made from wood (2x4's, siding, fence boards on sides for "rustic" look. It is a double decker with larger boxes on the bottom and smaller boxes on top. The bottom boxes are about 2' off the floor and the smaller boxes are on top of that.
My girls will only use the penthouses...... You know, location, location, location. The larger boxes on bottom never has an egg in them, save the fake one I have in every box. My very first nesting box was a white 5 gal bucket on the side with wooden frame around to hold it steady, sitting on floor. Only had 1 older hen laying and she layed in it faithfully. Couldn't keep any kind of straw in there either.

Since my girls won't leave any kind of straw, hay or chips in the nests, I use the following:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08BP7DFR...dCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU&th=1&tag=backy-20

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

Ugh... I have two sweet daughters, they will be fine it will be easy.......

Gary

Just to report in here, five years later they are teenagers and still sweet.

 

[CurvyCoop]

When I 1st got into chickens, I thought the idea of a few larger scale stairs, sort of like bleachers, could work well. The chickens could hop up the 3 steps, one at a time, reach the top, spin around with butt towards wall, then hunker down & roost for the night. Under their butts, against the wall, I had a poop chute, resembling a concrete truck chute, on a slight decline (since poop runs downhill - well, according to plumbers, that is their famous saying lol), with a bucket hanging at the chute's end, to catch poo.

The nest boxes were under the bottom step & the chickens used them perfectly right away!
In back of the nest boxes, under the 2 higher step "bleachers" was storage, with a little side door, where I stored my straw & wood chip bales. 3 bleacher type steps, each step 20" high. Looked great & seemed like a good idea at the time, in theory.

I knew about mites living in wood, I've had Pigeons for decades. Painting all surfaces with an outdoor grade paint helps, as well as being easier to clean.
I painted the entire inside of the coop, & figured why not get creative, mural style, blue sky & white puffy clouds on ceiling, flowering Dogwood trees on walls, grass & flowers near floor, all kinds of flowers, Forget me nots, Sunflowers, Marigolds, Tulips, etc., floors as well & then coated with a floor urethane. Bleachers were painted a pale green base then I added branches & flowers of Dogwood trees & I got a large window cling of flowering Dogwood, so the window was letting light in, but was not something a chicken would try to fly through. It was open at top for airflow. I painted Tulips all around the nest boxes. Yup, it was adorable, a work of art & seemed to work well...at 1st.

One issue...well the chickens did hop up 1 step at a time, BUT they didn't hop back down that way! Nope, they came down flapping like hell, from top step all the way outside through the door, when I opened it! Flying chickens & roosters as soon as I open the door? Talk about frazzled! Wasn't a safe way to start the day for me or my sweet birds. I realized that top step may be appealing to them to roost high, but 5 feet up is Too High if they're jumping down crazily...they could get hurt. Larger chickens & seniors as well as young birds...don't need a slipped tendon or broken leg so I soon realized this was not safe for them.

Also...
Chicken poop is runnier than pigeon poo, but Not as runny as I thought.
The clogged poop chute Always needed cleaning, and it got stinky. The bucket meant to catch runny poo, well it would have, but the poo was sticking to the chute...just didn't work as planned. Then "somebody" started laying an egg a day, in the poop chute, full of poop! Gross!

3rd issue, the steps of the bleachers Always needed poop scraping, because while at night the birds did poop into the chute, all throughout the day, the birds pooped EVERYWHERE else then stomped it down, so by the time I got home from work, I had to use a putty knife to scrape it all off the bleacher steps.

So yeah...I learned! Don't we all?!

Frazzled chickens bombing me the second I open the door each morning, then coming home from work to scrape & scoop Lots Of Poop, where poop wasn't "planned to accumulate" was obviously Not working. I ripped out the entire bleacher idea.

The coop had an interior remodel, where I used 2x4s to create perches, Not too high, so no one gets hurt.

Nest boxes were placed elsewhere, on the floor. I didn't want to be scraping poop off, so I made sloped tops, no one even tries to perch there. To keep the wood chips inside the nest box area, I just put a 2x4 there across the bottom. 1 nestbox per every 3 hens works well here. Sometimes they pile into the same box together, anyway...always seems to be the same ones snuggled, laying eggs at the same time, too. Funny girls.

I lost all 1st coop photos due to a phone mishap (the beautiful but disfunctional bleachers), but here are revamp interior pics, much more efficient & safe.

So in conclusion...what have I learned?

Things don't always go as planned, chickens have their own ideas & ways of doing things, so try to work along with them, considering their habits & preferences, safety 1st.

Also, Most Importantly, Always Consider the Poop Factor!

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I'm sorry sorry to hear you lost all your pictures of the first coop. I would have LOVED to see pictures of the murals!! It sounds super adorable!