Venting on nesting boxes for a hot climate.

You're right to be thinking about this.

I use portable plastic bins (and a covered kitty litter box) as nesting boxes. That way, I can move them to the coolest, shadiest spot (and the plastic makes them easy to clean). These days, I have the boxes on our covered breezeway that's always in the shade. The laying hens stand at the screen door and ask to be let in when they're ready to lay. If they are due to lay in the worst heat of the afternoon, I even bring the nestboxes inside to our indoor, air conditioned bird room. None of the hens seems to be in a big rush to exit the nestbox when they're enjoying the air conditioning!

 

I built this doghouse for a chicken tractor when I first started raising chickens. It's very well ventilated with sofit vents on both sides and large gable vents on the ends, and 5 birds spent all of summer 2009 in it. I have since brooded chicks in it and used it for all kinds of chicken applications! At first I thought it was way overpriced ($165 I think) but with a few cheap adaptations, it has served me very well so I guess it was money well spent!



Inside I added a roost, and covered a corner for the nest box. The side wall of the box is made with a scrap of pegboard which makes it nicely ventilated while providing "privacy"
That is where my hens are currently laying in this heat.



More pix of it on my BYC page https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=27985-chicken-tractor