Will a covered litter box work for a nest box?

[PunkinPeep]

We built our coop without the nest boxes - planning to build them in later. But now, i'm concerned my girls might start laying their eggs in the woods.

I have one of those covered cat litter boxes, with the little door hole in front. I could take out the little flip-flop door and put some wooden eggs inside. I'm just not sure if they will want to use it.

Anyone?

 

[ranchhand]

Quite a few people has used cat boxes with great success.

 

[Whitehouse Quail]

I agree. We have something like those, except made of wood and implanted in our barn/coop thing. They use them all the time!

Also, training tip: move the eggs to the nestbox, and once one looks about to lay an egg in an improper spot, correct her!

 

[teach1rusl]

Never tried them myself, but have read of many others using them quite successfully.

And on the plus side, you won't have to worry about your roost being higher than your nest box!

 

[PunkinPeep]

O.k. thank you! I think i'll go set that up now and see how it goes.

 

[NYREDS]

I use them but find I need to weight the bottom of they tend to tip over when the hens exit. A layer of sand in the bottom works well.

 

[purpledonna]

My first nest box was a covered litter tray and it worked fine! They loved it! Mine was plastic and easy to clean - just give it a wash every now and then.

 

[WalkingWolf]

LOL my chickens will nest wherever they feel like it. You would be surprised at the places I find eggs. If they will fit in a litter box yea with no problem.

 

[Katy]

That's what I use in most of my breeder pens. They work fine and are easy to clean.

 

[fordmommy]

When I was looking at putting in nesting boxes, that waas one of my options. I was told my may people that those work great. I did end up getting some of these. I had to make sure that my boxes could accomidate my big girls too. I have one chickens that weighs nearly 12lbs! She's so big that when she started to lay, she would have them on the floor of the coop. She thought that she wouldn't fit in there. But a couple of days showing her she could, she went in there and had her eggs. I would just pick her up and shove her in the nesting box. 2 days....