Why external nesting boxes?

[Poppy Putentake]

Lots of the coop designs I've seen lately have external nesting boxes, and I really wonder why. I'm all for being able to check for eggs from outside, and I have a door for that on my current tractor -- a vertical door with the hinge on the bottom, so when I open it, I am opening up the back wall of the nesting boxes, opposite the entrance the hens use, not the roof. The external boxes seem needlessly complicated, requiring some kind of weather sealing for the hinge in the little roof and probably more material fitting than interior nesting boxes. So, what is the advantage?

 

[CSAchook]

I think one reason is maximizing floor space. My homemade coop is 6ft by 6ft. If I place a nest box directly on the floor, the amount of usable floor space decreases. By cutting a hole in the wall and attaching external nest boxes, I didn’t lose any floor space. Since usable floor space is typically how coop capacity is calculated, keeping that number high is important to me.

 

[DobieLover]

Lots of the coop designs I've seen lately have external nesting boxes, and I really wonder why. I'm all for being able to check for eggs from outside, and I have a door for that on my current tractor -- a vertical door with the hinge on the bottom, so when I open it, I am opening up the back wall of the nesting boxes, opposite the entrance the hens use, not the roof. The external boxes seem needlessly complicated, requiring some kind of weather sealing for the hinge in the little roof and probably more material fitting than interior nesting boxes. So, what is the advantage?

They don't have to hinge top. The ones I built in my first coop hinged down and the roof was fixed and water tight.
In the first coop I built external nest boxes were the only practical solution for easy egg retrieval as the coop was not walk in style. Another reason is for asthetics.

 

[ColoradoPip]

Yes, my reason is maximizing floor space

 

[Folly's place]

Mine are in the coop, about 2' off the floor, so floor space isn't impacted at all. In fact, it's a nice spot for the oyster shell feeder, and when I used a heated dog water dish, it helped it stay cleaned too.
I do walk into the coop to collect eggs, and check on things generally. Not having a walk-in coop would be awful here!
If you do external nest boxes, make sure they are weather tight and predator proof.
Mary

 

[rosemarythyme]

I simply sized my coop to include the floor space my internal nest boxes are taking up. For me it was easier to build plywood nest boxes and put them inside, rather than try and figure out how to cut a hole in the shed to install external boxes.

 

[Mtnboomer]

No offense taken and I hope none was given (by me). I have kept chickens for only 3 yrs (built the coop when i started). We are in a unique situation. My wife is a vet pathologist and her colleague studies color expressions through genetics. Our birds are part of his studies so we raise the chicks keep the roosters with genes he wants to continue. So we harvest our birds several times a year as needed to keep the genes he wants. So we have had as few as 6 and as many as 22 ranging in age from 5mos to 18 mos. On avg probably 14 birds are in there at any given time.

Yep, it's just my opinion based on the many 'failures' I've seen here.
You needn't agree, nor take offense(unless you really want to).

ETA: the 'bad' design I was mostly referring to are the typical prefab coops that are copied overandoverandover.

Your design may work fine for you, and it's much different than most external nests.
At least the nests are covered somewhat with the roof overhangs and don't have a hinged tops.
Curious how long you've kept 20 birds in that coop and what your climate is?
Also if a bear has actually tried to get in there.

Here's how to add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, (laptop version shown), then it's always there!
View attachment 2016771

No offense taken and I hope none was given (by me). I have kept chickens for only 3 yrs (built the coop when i started). We are in a unique situation. My wife is a vet pathologist and her colleague studies color expressions through genetics. Our birds are part of his studies so we raise the chicks keep the roosters with genes he wants to continue. We harvest our birds several times a year as needed to keep the genes he wants. So we have had as few as 6 and as many as 22 ranging in age from 5mos to 18 mos. On avg probably 14 birds are in there at any given time.

We live in the mountains of southwest Virginia. Our climate is....fickle. we can have 10" of snow in April or 65 degrees at Christmas, rain 5 days a week for a year or not a drop for 3 months.

Yes a bear has tried to get in, maybe several. Its hard to tell if it was the same one or not. From May - Nov bears are a frequent sight. Im not claiming my coop is bear proof by any stretch of the imagination. A determined bear WILL get in. By i tried to make it at least difficult enough for him to lose interest. So far it has worked.
The roof overhangs add ventilation (welded wire mesh for soffits), protect the boxes and side "windows" from rain and snow.

 

[Mtnboomer]

Also if a bear has actually tried to get in there.

Here's the last bear we had in November that l video taped for awhile before having to chase him out of our backyard.

 

[2fizz]

I want to have an external nest box built for the reasons mentioned above but am too inept to do it myself. Time to hire a carpenter! Could anyone steer me in the right direction to find plans? I've been lurking for a while but am far from mastering how this site works.

 

[Building Bridges]

Lots of the coop designs I've seen lately have external nesting boxes, and I really wonder why. I'm all for being able to check for eggs from outside, and I have a door for that on my current tractor -- a vertical door with the hinge on the bottom, so when I open it, I am opening up the back wall of the nesting boxes, opposite the entrance the hens use, not the roof. The external boxes seem needlessly complicated, requiring some kind of weather sealing for the hinge in the little roof and probably more material fitting than interior nesting boxes. So, what is the advantage?

I haven't built my coop yet and I have considered this question also. Glad you brought it up