Chicken nesting boxes

[susoleary]

My father is interested in building or buying a nesting box for his 4 chickens - one where the eggs roll down and do not remain in the nest after laying. Does anyone have any idea where I can find some plans and/or in Australia, to buy one?

Thanks.:-P

[Oregon Swedes]

Roll-out nest boxes.

I don't think we have a coop section on this forum, but if you go to BYC, they have a section about coop construction (not the forum, a different area of the web site) and there are pictures of roll-out nest boxes. They are pretty simply: a slanted floor, no bedding, and a curtain so the bird can't reach the egg after it has rolled away.

By "no bedding" I mean nesting mats instead of anything that would prevent the egg from rolling.

[Mary]

With only four chickens I have a hard time understanding why a standard nest would not be more than adequate. The problem with broken eggs will be minimal, may not even happen. I have 40 hens with a 5 foot nest (3-2/3 m) that looks like a trough. Roughly 12 inches (24-30 mm) deep and that wide. I have had about 4 eggs broken in 3-4 months of them laying and some of them were eggs without shells.

It is simple to make. The bottom needs to be sloped at 10-15 degrees so the egg will roll under one side which is far enough above the floor of the nest that the eggs can roll under it. Measure the diameter of a large egg and give about a 1/4 inch more (roughly 1/2 mm) space to accommodate even the biggest chicken egg. The space for the egg to roll into should be about a hand's width with a board to prevent it from rolling farther. A nest needs to be about 10-12 inches (24-30mm) square for a single chicken or double that length for two hens. About the same depth (top entry) with a perch about 3 inches (6-7 mm) out from the nest to make it safe and easy for them to get into the nest. If the nest is a front entry the board across the front should be 3-4 inches(5-7mm) tall.

I hope you find this helpful.

Hummmm. Just realized the last post was in Feb or 2011. Maybe this will help someone in the future. I took the time to work it out so I am not going to erase it just in case it would help someone.

[goosedragon]

With only four chickens I have a hard time understanding why a standard nest would not be more than adequate. The problem with broken eggs will be minimal, may not even happen. I have 40 hens with a 5 foot nest (3-2/3 m) that looks like a trough. Roughly 12 inches (24-30 mm) deep and that wide. I have had about 4 eggs broken in 3-4 months of them laying and some of them were eggs without shells.

It is simple to make. The bottom needs to be sloped at 10-15 degrees so the egg will roll under one side which is far enough above the floor of the nest that the eggs can roll under it. Measure the diameter of a large egg and give about a 1/4 inch more (roughly 1/2 mm) space to accommodate even the biggest chicken egg. The space for the egg to roll into should be about a hand's width with a board to prevent it from rolling farther. A nest needs to be about 10-12 inches (24-30mm) square for a single chicken or double that length for two hens. About the same depth (top entry) with a perch about 3 inches (6-7 mm) out from the nest to make it safe and easy for them to get into the nest. If the nest is a front entry the board across the front should be 3-4 inches(5-7mm) tall.

I hope you find this helpful.

Hummmm. Just realized the last post was in Feb or 2011. Maybe this will help someone in the future. I took the time to work it out so I am not going to erase it just in case it would help someone.Mary, You are taking the date that OR Swedes joined [FEB 2011] for when it was posted, [1 day ago or 1/20/12] joined on the right, posted on the left upper part. Has anyone gotten the new Poultry catalog from Primere [sp wrong] I left my copy in "the reading room" These great electro-net vendors now will sell you everything you need for poultry except the land, the birds and the feed AT A PRICE!

[Oregon Swedes]

The post before mine is doing an illegal link to this site to boost their own ratings for their condo, I assume. I didn't click on it. That brought the post back up.

But, it is here and we get a lot of readers who never post, so a lot of people should see what you wrote, Mary. It's useful information.

[Mary]

Thank you. Sometimes when this show up in the "What's New" I don't check date and post....guess I could be more observant. It did indicate that you had visited about 3 hours before...Oh, well. Glad my input is useful.