What’s wrong w/nest boxes?

[igorsMistress]

They look drafty and don't provide privacy. Ditch the wire mesh. Might not be big enough for the hens to get comfy. They're metal...would you want to sit in a cold metal box for a a fair amount of time?

 

[Mosey2003]

There's no nesting material in those boxes. Hens aren't going to lay on wire mesh. FWIW, those PVC roosts should be changed to wood, also.

Agree on both points. Mesh is nice to keep eggs clean, but if they won't use it the point is moot. Usually when I've seen nest boxes with mesh bottoms, it's a much tighter mesh. Still not necessary, stick plywood in the bottoms and bed them with shavings, more than you think you need because they'll nest them up and kick them around.

You want roosts to be flat. Round can work, but it's not preferable. Round PVC is all bad because it's slippery, and they're too small a diameter to boot. If it gets cold where you live, I'd swap them with 2x4 lumber with the wide part up. If not, you can get away with 2x2s.

 

[henless]

I had a nest like those once. My chickens didn't like them because they weren't big enough. Mine like to have room to move around in. I had large fowl birds. Plus the wire mesh makes them look so open. Not dark and safe to lay an egg in.

 

[Rasputin66]

You could cut up an outdoor rug and lay the material in the bottom. This would be easy to pull out and clean periodically.

 

[Mosey2003]

You could cut up an outdoor rug and lay the material in the bottom. This would be easy to pull out and clean periodically.

Take a walk around your local home improvement store. Mine sells these 2'x2' carpet tiles with stiff rubber(?) backs that work out perfectly for me when cut into four and they're cheap. If you do that, get a good carpet knife while you're there, they're kind of a pain to cut otherwise.

 

[Trux]

Ditch the mesh bottoms and replace with plywood. Straw, pine shavings or nesting pads will make them happy. I prefer nesting pads so their not exposing the plywood and dropping eggs on it and breaking them

 

[PouleChick]

Yep the girls need some nice comfy bedding / straw / shavings to lay happily

 

[aart]

Just put some straw in them....just the bottom ones...and maybe some fake eggs.

 

[Cryss]

Chickens like to dig down into bedding as far as they can to create a deep "bowl" shaped nest to lay in. They're not going to lay on that cold wire. That wire bottom is perfect for breaking a broody but no broody would ever sit there anyway. I'd remodel, starting with reducing the number of nests, enlarging nest dimensions, have an actual solid floor in the nests with lots of diggable bedding, and do away with those 2x4s below. The purpose of a tractor is to let the chickens scratch and forage the ground eating bugs, fertilizing and tilling the ground a bit, then be moved to a new area before they destroy the area.

 

[kraftyladies]

Please share your thoughts about these nest boxes. The hens don’t use them. I’m new to this. The chicken tractor was given to me. I didn’t design it. Before I start a ‘remodel’ I’d like to hear what you think. Sorry for the mess. It’s been very cold! The hens lay in the two farthest boxes occasionally, but they’ve never sat on a nest. They also lay on the ground down in between the 2x4’s. I had one hen get broody down on the ground in early January. She sat for ~12 days then gave up. The 15 degree temps were no good!

They lay on my boat. They lay in the corner of the shed. They lay under the Ford tractor.
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Do they hate the nest boxes because of the wire bottoms? I’m thinking about putting plywood down in the bottom and leaving the back 3” exposed for cleanout. Shove some straw or pine shavings in there and see what happens. I’m also thinking about laying some plywood over the entire floor and I don’t know what to keep them from laying down there. All thoughts are welcomed. Thanks

Mine all like 2 or 3 places, and it is usually the darkest corners of the nest boxes. If you put something down on the wire like wood with some hay/shavings, make it darker in there, they will probably pick 1 or 2 of them and all will try to lay their eggs in there. Believe it or not, I think they actually like "privacy".