What’s wrong w/nest boxes?

[Bookmole353]

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

 

[Bookmole353]

I am a very amateur carpenter so my nest are very off in size but I found that if they have a solid bottom and lots of nesting material, they love it. The picture are of my hens in 11”x11” boxes. I have 18 of them, they fight over who’s getting the boxes. The white one here is a 1yr old light Brahma she is twice the size of my other hens. Then in the top picture is a cicillian buttercup and I think that last one is one of my americaunas. Not sure, I have about 20 different breeds now and some look alike to me. The s cond is the Brahma with the cicillian buttercup, then the third is one of he brahmas and a buff Orpington.

 

[Patrice Stout]

I say for ease of cleaning, put lead- free Astro turf squares in the bottom (you can take them out and hose them off) and a curtain on each box, you can always add wood shavings if you want to make it cosy. Lift the curtains half way up for a bit until they get used to them or have them pushed open a bit depending on how you hang them. The dummy eggs are a good idea also. I would definitely replace the roosting bars to 2x4 and hang them higher than the egg boxes because they like to lay closer to the ground and roost higher than they lay. If the winter is cold where you are,wrap the bottom of the outside or put wood covering the mesh, the draft is nicer in the summer but discourages them in the box when it’s cold especially because they are metal.

 

[chickenmeadow]

How lucky you are to acquire a spacious chicken coop & with an attached yard. I commented on the nest boxes & came back to your post to comment on the roost & floor issue you mentioned.

Here's a pic of one of my roosts, they can't wrap their toes around completely so don't get toe cramp at night & can snuggle down over their stretched out toes at night to prevent frost bite.

Maybe a sand floor would be useful in your coop, for easy cleanup. The sand trays I have, serve as a "poops" catch that I quickly clean up at morning with a kitty litter scoop then dispatch to the compose bin. The trays idea fits my coop, but not everyone's like yours, still the sand base has been wonderful & may work well for your floor as is to quickly rack up. Or even over plywood maybe & covered with some scrap vinyl like mine. Best wishes. Have fun!

 

[ajackalope]

If you want to keep the mesh, put in some nesting pads. You may have to cover them with straw or a layer of shavings. Mine wont lay on just the pads. You also want to do something about the floor. All that those little squares are going to do is fill with poop that will be a pain to get out. A plywood floor with sand will make clean up easy,(like picking out a litter box) and as long as it doesn't freeze the girls can dust bathe all year.

 

[breege]

I would buy some of the plastic nest box “trays” to put in those boxes. Then put some kind of nesting material in the nests. I believe once you do that the hens will be happy with them. I don’t really think the “open” concept of the nests are favorable.

I was thinking something similar. Depending on how big the opening are, I would put in Dollar Store plastic basins & load them w/shavings. I've done that in my coop. I bought 2 basins for each nest box & just switch them out when they need cleaning

 

[Cryss]

I was thinking something similar. Depending on how big the opening are, I would put in Dollar Store plastic basins & load them w/shavings. I've done that in my coop. I bought 2 basins for each nest box & just switch them out when they need cleaning

Not a bad idea but I'd still cover the holes to keep out cold air.

 

[aart]

Wonders if @Beakrr is interested in any of the replies here?
Maybe they got lost and couldn't find their way back?

 

[EggWalrus]

The hardware cloth bottom in the nests will make cleaning easy. But you need to put a big flake of hay or straw from a bale over the bottom. And I mean at least a tight 3" flake & don't fluff it. Bust up the rest of the hay or straw in the bottom of the pen where all those little "boxes" on the floor are. The birds will pack it down and it will make clean out a lot easier plus it's lighter than sand. Until you can do a propper remodeling, you can hang a curtain over the front of the nests to darken them, don't forget to put some sluts in the curtain so they can get in and out of the nests easy. I wouldn't try to "fix" all the nests. You only need one nest for each 4-6 hens, and put some golf balls or eggs (fake or real) in the nests to act as targets for them to lay on. Chickens are like monkeys as in "monkey see, monkey do". Most hens want to lay where other hens have already laid. They trust the other hen has picked a good safe spot if the other hen laid in it.

 

[EggWalrus]

Wonders if @Beakrr is interested in any of the replies here?
Maybe they got lost and couldn't find their way back?

Ain't no dang telling!