# what is your simplest nesting box?



## liznbeatle (Nov 17, 2007)

Hey All,
I am putting up my first nesting boxes in my coop in prep for our first eggs(YEAH). My girls probably won't start laying til spring, but I want them to get accustomed to their nests and be comfortable when they are ready to start laying. I have looked and asked and thought and my most economical, easy to clean method I have thought up is this. Get free white plastic five gallon buckets, cut them in half long ways. screw a row of them down to a heavy board with the top open end of the bucket facing out from the wall. Install two "shelves of nests on two walls on wall supports, add straw, then when cleaning is needed, I can just remove the whole board and nests and bleach and hose off and put back. How does this sound, has anyone used this idea?
I would appreciate feedback from you more experienced folk. Thanks very much. Lisa


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## bluetick (May 11, 2002)

I just have a small flock of chickens, and have 3 nestboxes. Two are old pet carriers, and the third is a covered kitty litter box. Besides being easy to clean, they are portable. 

A couple of my hens went broody last summer, and a couple of days before the hatch I moved the nest box to a quiet place on the floor. The chicks could get out without falling a few feet, and I could keep the little family safely away from the other birds that might harm them.


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

We started out with the 5gal white buckets. worked okay, was free. Our larger Marans were not comfortable with them, tho. Neither were the Cochins. 

I went to Walmart and bought 3 sterlite storage tubs. not the smallest ones, but the next size up. I cut a hole just big enough for the hens to fit in one end, put them on a shelf in the coop, put hay in the bottoms. the hens love them. My roosts are above them, so they get a big dirty on top, but I can just take the lids off real quick and shake them outside. I've also got one upside down under the shelf for the one Cochin who likes to lay on the ground.

Oh, and there is a landing pad roost 3 inches in front of the nests so they hop up to the landing pad and then pop into the nest.


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## LittleRedHen (Apr 26, 2006)

I have milk crates that stay pretty clean because a lot drops through them. They can be free if you ask on Freecycle. Another cheap thing has been tires. My chickens love them.


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## liznbeatle (Nov 17, 2007)

hey All,
Thank for the ideas, I apreciate the feedback, I like the milk crate idea, I could cut the front out and even stack them I think. Lisa


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## turtlehead (Jul 22, 2005)

I use the large covered cat litter boxes. Easy to clean, portable (is there an echo in here?).

If you use the 5 gallon buckets, I wouldn't cut them in half. Some chickens will use them but some wont' like them all open on the top. Some prefer the perceived safety of an enclosed nesting area.


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## Rogo (Jan 1, 2006)

Years ago when I first got into poultry, I bought a bunch of large covered cat litter boxes. They're all I've used all these years. They sit on the ground. I fill them with Bermuda grass hay. The amount I put out depends on how many birds I have at the time.

When I see a hen is broody and if I want babies, I pick up the box with the hen and eggs inside and move them to a 10 x 10 pen of their own. The box is put on the ground along with feed and water.

When the eggs are about to hatch, I put a ramp in the box; part of it inside under the hay, the rest outside. I made the ramps out of half inch hardware cloth. They allow the babies to easily exit/enter the nest boxes. My hens take the babies back to the nest boxes at dusk to settle down for the night.

My nest boxes:










Each is 15 1/4 inches wide x 16 1/4 inches high x 19 1/2 inches long.

I took the front flaps off.


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## orpington (Apr 26, 2007)

I thought $10 was expensive, when I bought an old 10-hole nest box complex from a neighbor, till I found out that they are quite an expensive item when new. 

My dad built some using plans from the extension service. 

Despite these luxury accomodations, the favorite nesting sites around here seem to be under the porch and in the hosta!


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## Wingdo (Oct 5, 2002)

Wisconsin Ann said:


> We started out with the 5gal white buckets. worked okay, was free. Our larger Marans were not comfortable with them, tho. Neither were the Cochins.
> 
> I went to Walmart and bought 3 sterlite storage tubs. not the smallest ones, but the next size up. I cut a hole just big enough for the hens to fit in one end, put them on a shelf in the coop, put hay in the bottoms. the hens love them. My roosts are above them, so they get a big dirty on top, but I can just take the lids off real quick and shake them outside. I've also got one upside down under the shelf for the one Cochin who likes to lay on the ground.
> 
> Oh, and there is a landing pad roost 3 inches in front of the nests so they hop up to the landing pad and then pop into the nest.


Mine were not comfortable with the bucket either until I started spliting them right down the middle and screwing them to the wall with 3 screws and fender washers. They decided they were wonderful after that... especially when I added an extra row of 1 inch holes about two inchs from the edge, to allow for more air flow I assume. 

They can also be hosed out easily and re-racked for the next round. 

I used the plastic 2.5 gallon for bantams and the 5 gallon for lg. breeds... although I did find a lg. hen in the small nesting bucket once in a while... talk about a tight fit!


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## Guest (Nov 26, 2007)

Scrap lumber to build a box fourteen inches square, about ten inches deep. If I have any I do the bottom with half-inch hardware cloth otherwise just more wood. Average cost: Maybe twenty five cents to pay for the screws. Everything else is usually scrap or salvage.

.....Alan.


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## Orthodoxmomof4 (Jan 10, 2006)

Dh built our chicken house from plans he came up with himself...there are openings in the back for nesting box access but alas, he hasn't had the time to build the actual nesting boxes yet. We had to come up with something temporary until he does and our solution was...old dresser drawers! The frame and one of the drawers broke in our boys' ancient hand-me-down dresser. We took the drawers out and set them on the floor of the chicken house in the corners, filled with hay - they love them and two can fit in at the same time (it's funny because they will usually sit facing opposite directions, lol). 

Becky


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

Orthodoxmomof4 said:


> they love them and two can fit in at the same time (it's funny because they will usually sit facing opposite directions, lol).
> 
> Becky


"If I can't see you, you're NOT THERE!"


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

The cheapest ones ever.... Some old scrap plywood leaned over the corners of the coop. They loved it and I have never had a chicken like any box I have put for them better. Now I have a great mix to accomodate different tastes.. I have an old beehive that I put a board into to creat a top and bottom box. Some old milk crates.. an old wooden laying box I found in the barn and an old chest that I lay on it's side and cover with an old peice of cloth... still more fussing and fidgeting than when I just had the covered corners.. Would do it again, but not enough corners..


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## Orthodoxmomof4 (Jan 10, 2006)

chickenista said:


> The cheapest ones ever.... Some old scrap plywood leaned over the corners of the coop.
> 
> That made me smile - this past spring and summer our Cochin hen would *only* lay behind a piece of plywood that was propped up against the back of the house...we left it there all summer just for her. ; )
> 
> Becky


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## Guest (Jan 17, 2008)

Bump.

.....Alan.


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## chewie (Jun 9, 2008)

old thread, but have a question....i will have around 8-12 hens, and want cheap and easy nest boxes. not real handy with hammer, so i have a couple milk crates, and will watch for some pet carrier type things too. now, here goes a real lame question...the milk crates for boxes, are they on the ground with the bottom on the floor, so it has 4 walls, or up a few inches off the ground, on the side? i did it that way but it doesnt' look like there's enough room for the bird that direction, but i have no idea if they'll jump into a milk crate if its sitting upright?

my husband was not pleased when we went to the dump several weeks ago and i jumped out of the pickup and said OH, look!! he got snarky and said, we didn't come to shop!! but,...there was this box, have no idea what it used to be, but its a PERFECT nest box! but there was only one, dang! i had gotten a few 'mixed heavies' from the local farm store, and 2 of those are hens, and they are veyr happy with my dump-box! now, the others need some too.


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## Joshie (Dec 8, 2008)

I use old wooden fruit crates. I also have a couple of those plastic crates people buy their kids when they go off to college.


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## LFRJ (Dec 1, 2006)

Best and cheapest I found to use was a small chest of dresser drawers - the smaller narrow kind, like for underwear and hankies and such. It was in a pile of "free stuff" along side the road. 

I pulled apart the drawers. The remaining narrow box/tube needed only separators. Bottoms of the drawers fit right back in place perfectly for that. The remaining pieces of the drawers I nailed across the front for a lip to hold the straw in. Three nest boxes in no time flat. Voila!

Took hardly any time and didn't cost a dime.


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## makete (Aug 4, 2010)

Chewie, I would just set them in the coop with the bottom on the bottm. Mine seem to like 4 walls better than just 3 with the front open. And milk crates are just about a perfect size. To help keep them clean, you may want to add a roof over the crates that is at a slant, so that the birds cant stand on the edges and poop. Sometimes smaller birds will use the edge of nesting boxes as roosts for the night or to just rest. A slanted roof will help keep the birds from doing this which will help keep then cleaner. Make sure that it is slanted enough so that birds cant stand on it.


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## lisarichards (Dec 6, 2004)

I use apple baskets. My girls love them. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisanh/4364741713/


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## gold'nchocolate (Jun 24, 2006)

chickenista said:


> The cheapest ones ever.... Some old scrap plywood leaned over the corners of the coop. They loved it and I have never had a chicken like any box I have put for them better.


My hens have always been quite imaginative when it comes to hiding their eggs somewhere OTHER than a nest box. The most recent nest is one that I found behind some boards that are leaning against the stall in the barn.


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## Queen Bee (Apr 7, 2004)

when we did the tour in Raliegh NC of other's coops, I saw tons of different 'boxes': old dresser drawers, milk crates, a petestal sink, apple baskets, old metal dishpans,cat litter boxes, animal crates, real fancy wooden ones and even cardboard boxes! It's all what you prefer...Good luck


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## suelandress (May 10, 2002)

LOL. We've been using cardboard boxes since the flood. Two, nestled so they form an 'L' The girls love them, and when they are spent, they can go into the garden.


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## Delrio (Mar 11, 2007)

A.T. Hagan said:


> Scrap lumber to build a box fourteen inches square, about ten inches deep. If I have any I do the bottom with half-inch hardware cloth otherwise just more wood. Average cost: Maybe twenty five cents to pay for the screws. Everything else is usually scrap or salvage.
> 
> .....Alan.


Ditto!!


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## ai731 (Sep 11, 2007)

My chickens lay in square wicker baskets, which sit on their sides in one corner of the coop. I shake the mucky sawdust out of them when I clean the coop. One of these days I might get around to building a shelf for them.


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## tab (Aug 20, 2002)

LOL, I have nice wooden boxes, which are difficult to clean if they break an egg, but what they all LOVE is the open bale of shavings with the paper sides left up. They will share it they love it so much. The eggs stay clean and it is super easy to clean.  I hardly ever find an egg in the boxes anymore and every batch of hens I have had have done this.


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## LearningLife (Aug 11, 2010)

Tab, your hens sound like ours. My husband built six very nice boxes in the coop, and every one of our gals has decided that the straw bales stacked in the corner are preferable for laying. Every day, without fail, we find a neat little pile of eggs on the straw and none at all in those boxes.


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## ladytoysdream (Dec 13, 2008)

I was able to find a 15 hole used metal one that hangs on the wall now of the coop for $ 20 last year. I priced them in a catalog and they sure are pricey new. When I first dragged it home, hubby was not pleased. We had to replace the bottoms of each hole, but other than that, the unit is solid. 
I left it outside for awhile to air out, and let the weather help clean it. The dirty part mainly was the wooden landing bars in front of each level. 
So 5 holes on each row, 3 high. 
Then I had to get a nest box for floor level because we have the one pullet with a vison problem. She sees well enough to get around but she struggles with a few things. One being she does not do heights. So hubby will make sure she is on the lowest roost at night, and then she can get down herself in the morning. I am using a metal rabbit nest box minus the floor panel. It sits on the coop floor under the big nest box. It has a lot of shavings in it. So Alley will climb in, lay her egg, and then is able to get back out just fine. The other day, when I was getting eggs from the regular boxes, Alley was under my feet, singing her egg song. Well I knew she had not been in the box when I first entered the coop, so I had to check things out for her. One of the other pullets was in Alley's box. OOPS. So I decided to pull the other girl out and put her in the regular nest hole on the wall. Then poor Alley was able to get into HER box. WHEW 
We also used this rabbit nest box for broody hens this year. It worked really well. The box was put in a large dog crate and I had several stacked up. Plan is to pick up a few more rabbit boxes.

Only thing I can suggest is that no matter what you use for a nest box, use something that if the chicken flips it somehow, she is not caught underneath it. That is why I like the idea of the open bottom on the rabbit nest box. 

My son was using big plastic buckets for nest boxes. And where do his birds lay.......on the floor in the corners. He has a small flock and several different knds of birds all in the same group. He thought it was interesting the turkey stole all the chicken eggs and brooded them recently.


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## lisa's garden (Apr 1, 2010)

suelandress said:


> LOL. We've been using cardboard boxes since the flood. Two, nestled so they form an 'L' The girls love them, and when they are spent, they can go into the garden.


Hey, that's what I've been doing too! I just pile up manure on the boxes and before long you would hardly know there is a box there!


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