Wood vs. plastic for nest boxes?

[aart]

Yep, from what I've seen, lots of that plastic just ends up in third world countries in their landfills.

It used to...now they won't take it anymore, they ran out of space.

 

[Jeddice]

I personally like plastic. But then my both of my coops are plastic. Makes spring cleaning very easy. We also have plastic recycling boxes attached to wire cage pen. The ladies seem to like the dark coops better, but they do use them.

 

[pnelms]

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?

We opted to go for galvanized nest boxes when we started our chicken adventure 7 years ago. They have proven to be very easy to maintain, no odor or residual staining, etc., and have had no breakdown in structure such as you have with plastic and wood. The hens are happy with them as well. We are expanding and have a new coop under construction. We will use the galvanized boxes there as well. I think it's very important to keep the ladies in a clean environment and the galvanized boxes make it easy. If there are drawbacks to these boxes, we haven't experienced them. We do heat our coop in the winter to keep it at least 40 degrees.

 

[Wendy Case]

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?

Plastic all the way! Easy to remove, hose down, dry etc. There is no place for mites to hide!! I also use the green artificial grass, sold in squares of four from Amazon that fit the nesting boxes perfectly. Easy to pull out, hose off and dry, plus I spray miticide (Elector PSP) in there and on the 'grass'. Happy chickens. This pic was taken before I started using the artificial grass squares. I'll never change the nesting box/grass combo.

 

[Chullicken]

Some really good post here for the topic. As mentioned wood is traditional, affordable and readily available but it does have its drawbacks like moisture retention and is porous. Plastic is easy to clean, can be affordable depending on what you use however it can retain moisture as well. Mites and those little buggers love the tiny spaces all over, not just the nest boxes. Maybe try a very deep and thorough cleanout, dusting and re apply whatever preventatives you're using. Or maybe just lose the entire thing and build a new, perhaps one with fewer nooks and crannies? I'd also try dusting at the base of their little home as well to avert any creepies that crawl in from the base. Good luck with it, those mites are a headache for sure~

 

[Chullicken]

View attachment 1994181


Plastic all the way! Easy to remove, hose down, dry etc. There is no place for mites to hide!! I also use the green artificial grass, sold in squares of four from Amazon that fit the nesting boxes perfectly. Easy to pull out, hose off and dry, plus I spray miticide (Elector PSP) in there and on the 'grass'. Happy chickens. This pic was taken before I started using the artificial grass squares. I'll never change the nesting box/grass combo.

I really like that coop and set up~ Please post blueprints!

 

[Wendy Case]

I really like that coop and set up~ Please post blueprints!

LOL, the blueprints are in my head.
I used the side of our workshop and dead space alongside it. The coop itself is attached to the workshop on one side and is 18 feet long. The workshop is is 24 ft so I used the extra space to make an enclosed porch on two sides with a clear roof to protect the area and a doorway into the run with a hardware cloth wrapped home made door to fit the opening. The coop and run can only be accessed by one main gate made from a manufactured five foot (for wheelbarrow access) dog kennel door. The coop is off the ground by 18" and has a solid floor covered in linoleum to protect the wood and clean out easily. It's 8' wide and I'm tall at the highest point and 6'at at the lowest. The walls and roof are insulated between OS boards. Three slide up shed windows (142"x21") are on the south side, a large sliding window (Picked up free from someone's curbside) is on the west side with a window awning to stop rain and snow from entering, another shed window on the east side above the automatic door and a very big old fashioned screen door ($10 from Restore) is the main door into the coop. The east side window and screen door are permanently raised for ventilating during the winter months and protected from the covered porch and the gate which is covered by a clear shower curtain which I roll up during the day and down at night secured with weights. I painted the outside with an outdoor weatherproof paint and then over that with the coloured paint.
I can't tell you how much material we used for the actual build off hand, as I have to sit down and figure all that out and it'll take hours. I'll include pix of tree build though. I hope that helps.
I've uploaded some of the actual build, but unfortunately it uploaded ALL of the pics from my Chickens and stuff file.
Hoping you can see them and make sense of them. Lol If not, I'll try and send the actual build again when I have more time as I have no clue how to upload multiple pix on here yet.

 

[Wendy Case]

View attachment 1994219 View attachment 1994219 View attachment 1994219

LOL, the blueprints are in my head.
I used the side of our workshop and dead space alongside it. The coop itself is attached to the workshop on one side and is 18 feet long. The workshop is is 24 ft so I used the extra space to make an enclosed porch on two sides with a clear roof to protect the area and a doorway into the run with a hardware cloth wrapped home made door to fit the opening. The coop and run can only be accessed by one main gate made from a manufactured five foot (for wheelbarrow access) dog kennel door. The coop is off the ground by 18" and has a solid floor covered in linoleum to protect the wood and clean out easily. It's 8' wide and I'm tall at the highest point and 6'at at the lowest. The walls and roof are insulated between OS boards. Three slide up shed windows (142"x21") are on the south side, a large sliding window (Picked up free from someone's curbside) is on the west side with a window awning to stop rain and snow from entering, another shed window on the east side above the automatic door and a very big old fashioned screen door ($10 from Restore) is the main door into the coop. The east side window and screen door are permanently raised for ventilating during the winter months and protected from the covered porch and the gate which is covered by a clear shower curtain which I roll up during the day and down at night secured with weights. I painted the outside with an outdoor weatherproof paint and then over that with the coloured paint.
I can't tell you how much material we used for the actual build off hand, as I have to sit down and figure all that out and it'll take hours. I'll include pix of tree build though. I hope that helps.
I've uploaded some of the actual build, but unfortunately it uploaded ALL of the pics from my Chickens and stuff file.
Hoping you can see them and make sense of them. Lol If not, I'll try and send the actual build again when I have more time as I have no clue how to upload multiple pix on here yet.

As you can see, my multiple attempt was useless!

 

[Chullicken]

View attachment 1994234 View attachment 1994232 View attachment 1994230
As you can see, my multiple attempt was useless!

That is like a multiplex LOOL And who is that handsome boy in the picture??

 

[lifein1840]

View attachment 1994181


I thought of getting the "screw to the wall" plastic nests but they look so small. I have some big hens (Sussex, Black Americauna and Dorkings) and i wasn't sure they could fit inside!! Any thoughts on the size of the nests for large ladies?