Wood vs. plastic for nest boxes?

[HollyWoozle]

Good morning from Bedfordshire, UK.

I would love to hear your opinions on nest boxes please! Currently we have two pairs of traditional wooden nest boxes which have been in the chicken shed for most of my life. They are lovely and the chickens like them well enough but they are starting to disintegrate and I am wondering what to replace them with. Do many of you use plastic boxes?

Since our chicken coop is an old shed, most of it is wood. This last summer I had a constant, very tough battle with mites and I think that replacing wood for plastic where possible would help me, plus would be more hygienic for cleaning. However there is something so nice about the traditional wood boxes (they also look nice but that's a minor consideration). I did consider getting some more wood ones and then maybe using some sort of plastic tray/liner as a compromise.

What do you like best?

 

[21hens-incharge]

I use wooden with dish pans as a liner. They are easy to clean but when it is super cold out are prone to cracking.
I have only ever had 2 rounds of mites in 20+ years. Once when my nests were all painted wood and one while using the dish pans.

I cannot say if fully plastic nests would deter mites but they would be easier to sterilize.

Can you post a picture of the plastic ones you are considering?

Here there are a wide variety available. Some get screwed to the coop wall and have an open back. I would think those would be difficult to clean fully.

 

[aart]

Tough call.
Wood can hold some moisture which is attractive to mites.
Plastic if mounted to be removable would be easy to clean.
But what the mites really like is tiny spaces to shelter in,
like where one piece of material meets another but there is a tiny space between.
I'd say since your coop is wood, plastic nests are not going to make much difference in mite habitat..so go with what pleases you most.

They are lovely and the chickens like them well enough but they are starting to disintegrate and I am wondering what to replace them with. Do many of you use plastic boxes?

Curious why they are disintegrating....do they get wet?
Got pics?

 

[HollyWoozle]

Thanks for your replies. Attached is a poor old pic of what we have now (two pairs like this) - they are falling apart for a few reasons I think. One is simply that they are very old now and second is that sometimes I have had to get them wet to clean them. On a few occasions we have had eggs crack inside them and egg has managed to reach the bottom of the boxes. As you can imagine, that is not all that pleasant and I found the only way to clean was using water. I've always let them dry fulling before putting them in use again but it takes its toll on the wood.

I think plastic would be much easier to keep clean and the most effective mite preventatives I've found here are sprays, so that would be easier too with plastic. I just can't help but feel that wood is nicer though for some reason! A dish pan insert is a good compromise perhaps.

 

[HollyWoozle]

Can you post a picture of the plastic ones you are considering?

Here there are a wide variety available. Some get screwed to the coop wall and have an open back. I would think those would be difficult to clean fully.

I've seen a few options including some of the 'screw-on' type ones, but I was thinking of something simpler and removable like below (the second option are just plastic barrels essentially). As I've not tried them I'm not really sure if chickens have a preference either way.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Lots of people are using 5 gallon buckets with the lid cut in half and laid on their sides. I have seen folks post about using empty kitty litter buckets that have a more rectangular opening. Then there are storage totes with an opening cut in one end, covered cat litter boxes, and I am sure lots more creative things.

If you decide to go with plastic nests please anchor them to prevent tipping. I read a while back about a hen that tipped a plastic nest becoming trapped and dying.

 

[Duckfarmer1]

I use wooden with dish pans as a liner. They are easy to clean but when it is super cold out are prone to cracking.
I have only ever had 2 rounds of mites in 20+ years. Once when my nests were all painted wood and one while using the dish pans.

I cannot say if fully plastic nests would deter mites but they would be easier to sterilize.

Can you post a picture of the plastic ones you are considering?

Here there are a wide variety available. Some get screwed to the coop wall and have an open back. I would think those would be difficult to clean fully.

Could you show a picture of the dish pans? I can’t picture what kind you mean...

 

[21hens-incharge]

Could you show a picture of the dish pans? I can’t picture what kind you mean...

Please note the boards across have the lip of the dish pan resting on them. That is to prevent accidental tipping. A nice thing is I can pull the dish pan out even with a grumpy broody hen in it.



Just basic plastic dish pans in there.

https://www.target.com/p/dishpan-12...MI0-jW07vb5gIVUb7ACh2YmQeEEAQYAiABEgJz3vD_BwE

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

I use plastic crates that are used to hold vegetables gathered from the field. Similar to a milk crate, but larger along one side. Chickens are like, "We're good."

 

[HollyWoozle]

Great ideas, thank you!