I agree. They managed to make it a perfect size and it even has a roof. It offers them protection from all sides except the entrance. It's essentially a natural nesting box, and far more comfortable than a nesting box.
We let them use it for a few days, but with heavy rains again I had to keep them in the coop and run so they couldn't access the garden where they built this nest.
I have decided that I am going to reconstruct my nesting boxes and change the nesting material we use. Currently we have roll away boxes with plastic nesting mats in them. I built these in the spring because I thought they were neat and would prevent my newly laying hens from being tempted or able to eat eggs. What I have realized is these boxes are not natural for the chickens at all. What chicken in the wild lays an egg in a wooden box on some pointy plastic mat only to watch the egg roll away? I'm going to scrap the roll away feature, put round openings and use bedding materials like straw and hay. It will be a bit more labor intensive for me as there will be more cost, cleaning and risk (i.e.: eggs being broken or eaten, mites/lice/louses getting into the nest bedding), but it will overall be more natural and better for the hens.
