Keep in mind when creating your chicken coops nesting boxes are not a necessity. They are actually a benefit to you in helping to have a central location for your hen to lay an egg. No need for egg hunting, all you do is go gather your eggs in one location. It also gives a place for broody hens to raise some chicks. Every now and then you may have a renegade hen or two that refuses to use the resources you supply but for the most part once trained where to go they will use it on a consistent basis.
So with these things in mind what could be some good items laying around the house that would make a good chicken nesting box?
- The first thing that comes to my mind is a milk crate or a plastic crate. Turned on its side and nailed to the wall it is a handy item and stack well also if you wanted to stack one on top of the other.
- An old dresser drawer. I saw this somewhere and cannot remember where but thought it was an excellent idea. And if you want you can section the drawer off for multiple boxes.
- Five gallon buckets. Cut it in half and attach to a wall and you have two nest boxes.
- PVC Pipe. A 10″-12″ diameter pvc pipe cut into 12″ section and fasten them to the wall. To fasten to wall take a 1×2 piece of wood of larger, cut the length of the pipe and attach to wall. Then screw the pipe on each end of the wood. (I got this idea from searching on the net for homemade nest boxes).
- Cardboard box. This would be a temporary fix if nothing else is available.
- Build your own out of scraps of plywood. Boxes should be around 10″ to 12″ wide.
- Pet carrier.
I’m sure there are a variety of ways and if you want to share your creative ways to make do with what you have, please comment on this blog post.
To finish off this post, here are a few pictures I found that may give you some ideas:
For more ideas, visit Chicken Nesting Boxes.
I also found this website/blog that has a great tutorial on building a chicken nest box from a pallet.
Tags: homemade nest boxes
22 Responses to “Homemade Nest Boxes for Chickens”
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January 29th, 2009 at 7:13 am
I think it is a great idea to use recycled items to make chicken coops and nesting boxes. At first I thought the cardboard boxes would become too soiled and too hard to clean, but then it occurd to me that you would just toss the dirty ones out and stick a new (recycled) carboard box it. What a great idea!
Clance McDonald.
Chicken Coop Planss last blog post..New design for chicken coop plans blog
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January 30th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
Could I possibly include this post in next week’s Homesteading Carnival? I’ll be putting it together this Sunday night. You can let me know at kurtshan@cinci.rr.com
Thanks so much!
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February 3rd, 2009 at 7:30 am
I love this idea. We are always looking for new way to use what we have and this is great.
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February 3rd, 2009 at 8:20 am
We use the dresser drawers. Our ladies love them and they are pretty sturdy. One less trip to the dump which is always a good thing.
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February 5th, 2009 at 10:36 am
Why dont you just use buckets, I have used them for yours and my daddy always used them, you just cut a half moon 2×4 and screw that at the opening of the bucket so the egg doesnt fall out and screw the back of the buckets side by side against a wall or board.
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February 5th, 2009 at 11:45 pm
I use the plastic recycle bins that the garbage company doesn’t use anymore. I nailed them all along one wall. Funny thing though all my 10 hens lay in only one box. They just wait their turn.
Wendys last blog post..Honeymoon Suite, Revisited
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February 6th, 2009 at 7:34 am
I love the idea of using milk crates. I would not of thought of it but it makes perfect sense and we have tons lying around; I will have to try it out.
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February 10th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
I like the idea of using dresser drawers . . . it reminded me that we have an old bookshelf outside. With a strip nailed in front, it would be perfect for chickens! It`s already divided into smaller sections.
Expat Moms last blog post..A Fun Valentine Banner!
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April 29th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Just got my girls, we had a dresser draw high up, but they don’t seem to realise it’s there…, might try the milk crate idea, thanks.
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May 16th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
i use them to hatch my barred rock and ri reds cause they wont set
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July 22nd, 2009 at 6:52 pm
I’m all for recycling. I like the boxes it’s simply and easy to just throw out when it becomes too soiled.
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December 31st, 2009 at 2:10 pm
One of the grocery store chains where I live has a portion of their store set aside for storing cardboard milk boxes. A person can take as many as often as they want. I use them as nesting boxes and when they get too soiled, instead of throwing them out, I use them as mulching or they go into compost. Works for me.
Tony
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February 20th, 2010 at 11:49 am
well i think it is a good idea to go to a farm store and buy a nesting box i got one for only 16.00$ think about it
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March 25th, 2010 at 5:43 pm
I found some ply wood out in a dumpster and made a laying hen
nest box.
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April 2nd, 2010 at 1:03 pm
One practical suggestion, never build a chicken coop with four doors,… because that would make it a …chicken sedan. Sorry I just couldn’t resist a bit of poultry humor. LOL
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April 8th, 2010 at 2:05 pm
Lots of great ideas here in the comments, too. I lol’d at the thought of the chickens waiting in line to use the one box… I imagined them all standing there like women at the theater restroom after the movies.. legs crossed, bouncing up and down ‘Gotta go! Gotta go!’
Kelly´s last blog ..Kitchen Update!
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May 13th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
Thank you for all the GREAT nesting box ideas.
How creative you are, and yes I am on a budget
so it helps to use what I may have right now.
Thanks again, and God Bless You.
DebraJoy
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June 2nd, 2010 at 9:46 pm
My husband brought home some old childrens stackable plastic bins and I thought what am I going to do with these? Well I thought I do need nesting boxes. And am now giving it a try. I don’t want to stack them though, but will raise them off the ground with bricks and secure them to the coop with nails,maybe. I will have a row of about three along the ground and place a piece of ply wood on top to provide a little security for the hens to lay in. How does this sound?
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Carole Reply:
June 3rd, 2010 at 6:57 am
Dianna, I also use plastic milk crates in my coops. I mount them on the wall with screws or nails. The only modification I make is adding a piece of wood on the front of it so the nesting material and eggs do not fall out.
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June 16th, 2010 at 3:50 am
Hi Carole,
)
Love your article. I got a funny story to share. I started out last year with a communal nesting area for five fowl. That was a big mess, some of my birds even broke (and ate?) some eggs. I heard a horror story that in extreme cases chickens turn cannibal. Do you think it’s true?
Anyway, I started an experiment with cardboard boxes. That worked very well. The only problem was they get pecked and flecked very easy. So it’s not a durable solution.
Then I just build six relatively large boxes with plywood. Problem now was they cuddled together in two of these boxes. They’re very social animals indeed. Seemed everything I tried was useless. So I downsized the boxes. (This is hours and hours of DIY for a couple of eggs
This was the winner concept. Just make sure that no more than one bird fits in!
Bless,
Andy
andreas´s last blog ..Build your own Poultry Feeder
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