Whether you ’ve had chickens for for a while or are just bugger off them , one of the essential things your cage needs is chicken nesting box .
They do n’t have to be fancy but they will make collecting your eggs much easier ! So in this article I ’ll go over everything that you necessitate to acknowledge about your nestle boxes .
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I ’ve had chickens forever and I ’ve had them barren range , cooped up , in horse house trailer , pretty much all the place you’re able to imagine .
And I can tell you from experience that if your hens have specific crybaby nesting box to lay their eggs in it ’ll make life so much easier .
The prissy part is that the snuggle boxes do n’t need to be fancy and there are lots of choice .
The important thing is that they are safe , quiet , and rather darken .
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All About Chicken Nesting Boxes
have got specific places for your hens to lie will make garner egg much easier for you .
If you bequeath it up to the girls to resolve where they want to lay their eggs it ’s ordinarily pretty hidden .
hen like to lay eggs in uninfected , dark , and safe places which is why you ’ll often find complimentary range hens laying eggs in hidden station such as underneath Bush and in between hay stacks .
So when you ’re create your nesting boxes sample to keep them as dark , individual , and comfortable as possible .
How Many Nesting Boxes Per Chicken
You should be after on one box per 4 - 6 hens . But if you only have a few hens you should still provide them with a few boxes .
They may not use all of them but it give them more than just one alternative for laying in .
Although do n’t be surprised if all of your hens utilise the same box . It ’s likely going to be the case .
Sometimes you ’ll even see two hens in the same box at once . Even when there may be five empty boxes , chicken will end up sharing the boxes at the same time .
I do n’t know why and I really am not sure how to break them of it , but I guess sharing is caring mighty , haha !
How to Build Chicken Nesting Boxes
When it come sentence to getting your boxes you could either build them , buy already assemble boxes , or use items such as such as milk crate , plastic tubs , or 5 - gal buckets turn sideways .
My boxes are made out of wood . They were really easy to assemble and we just used plywood and some 2×4 ’s .
They work really well and are lasting which is just what I wanted when I built my young cage .
An important feature is that the tops are slanted which prevents the chickens from being able to rest on top of the boxes .
This keeps them much cleaner because they wo n’t pile up with chicken poop .
If your coop is not permanent or you just call for something to use speedily I ’d urge something quick and easy such as Milk River crates or some of the pre - made nesting boxes .
How Big They Should Be
Nesting boxes should be a minimal sizing of 12x12x12 inches .
If you have small sized hens such as bantams and white boater , a smaller box will work but it ’s dainty to have a box that can fit any size of it .
I have a mixture of small hen to pretty heavy hens and so the 12x12x12 box or even a dyad inch bragging are pure and can fit them all .
How High Off the Ground They Should Be
The height is important both for easy access for the hen to get in and so that rodents ca n’t get in .
They should be at least a foot off of the ground so if critters such as mice get inside your chicken coop , they are less likely to get in the box seat .
But keep them no high than 3 foot off the ground because high than that can make it difficult for some chickens to hop in .
I have a perch in front of my box that hens can well hop onto before going inside and it ca-ca go in and exiting much prosperous on them .
Where to Place the Nesting Boxes in the Chicken Coop
In my coop I mounted the boxes on the bulwark to have the opening confront the south paries so that the sun never shines directly in the boxes when it is rising or set .
Some multitude will even hang curtains in the front of the nesting boxes to supply a bit of spare secrecy for their hens .
Chicken Nesting Material to Use
It does n’t really matter what you use indoors of your boxwood but a good nesting material helps keep your eggs fair and it prevents the eggs from breaking .
effective option are materials such as hay , straw , wood skimming , shredded paper , ornesting pad .
Over the year I have used just about everything and myfavorite chicken nesting materialis aspen shaving nesting box lining .
They have kraft paper paper on the bottom , which holds all of the paring material together so even when chickens scratch at it , it hold up .
How to Stop Chickens from Pooping in Nest Boxes
It ’s really a pain when your Gallus gallus start out pooping in their boxes because it quickly makes a mess of your nesting material and your testicle wo n’t be as gentle to clean .
But luckily there are a few way to prevent your biddy from pooping in the box .
They really only poop at night when they are kip so if you do n’t permit your biddy log Z’s in their boxes you will rarely ascertain a mess .
The few things you should do that will foreclose your hens from catch some Z’s in their box are :
1.)Make your boxes grim than the roosts . chicken want to rest in the gamey area , so if your boxes are higher , that ’s where they will choose .
2 . ) Have the right kind of roosts . Wood is preferred because it is easy for chicken to grasp onto and it does n’t get too hot or cold .
The roost can be made out of many materials such a 2×4 board , old shovel handles , stepladders , tree diagram branch , etc . But should be something that is at least 2 - 4 inches wide that the chicken can easily roost on .
I have my chicken roosts in each corner like stair stair starting at about 1 foot off the soil up to about 5 foot , then one long perch the runs the entire length of the coop .
3 . ) Keep your chicken henhouse sportsmanlike . If your coop gets infested with mite your hens may attempt to get away and sleep in the boxes .
So regularlycleaning your coopis another way that will prevent your chickens from sleeping in their box .
How to Teach Your Hens to Lay in the Boxes
If you have older hen that are already using the boxes , youthful hens take off to position will unremarkably just watch over their lead .
But if you remark they are not lay in their box there are a few ways you could instruct them to do so .
you may put golf balls in the nest , phoney eggs , or even real egg that are somehow marked so you know not to hoard them .
Once the hens notice , it will encourage them to begin laying their bollock in the same spot .
Happy Hens and Happy Chicken Keepers
I desire you ’ve hear all you need about chicken nesting boxes .
They ’re a pretty simple thing but they make such a Brobdingnagian divergence when it comes to the day to mean solar day undertaking of keeping chickens .
You ’ll never know how happy you could be simply from having uninfected , unploughed eggs all in one spot !
For more selective information about everything you need to know about elicit chicken , check out the ebook I wrote : The Beginner ’s Guide to Raising Chickens
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