My loving husband has spent some time in the shop the last days and has concocted a masterpiece if I do say so myself. Remember, its probably a little TOO much thinking but still will serve the purpose marvelously and also very handy.
Going on our green theme, Dave decided to recycle materials. I believe he used some plywood left over, scrap from the inside of the coop walls, hand rail and an old milk crate!
(i am sure he will correct me if the materials list is incorrect.)
In the above picture you can see the whole kaboodle put together. Its pretty attractive. He also used left over paint from the house to paint the box.
The best part (for me) is that the bottom of the box removes completely for cleaning. The material used on the bottom of the drawer is the same material we used on the walls inside the coop where one side is "shiny" and things are easily wiped off of it.
Here is the side view. You can see the milkcrate as well as the hand rail perch in front.
Here is the back side. We actually modified this a little after installing by removing the inside back wall so we can see into the box to check for eggs easier.
And finally, thanks to some suggestions from readers, we have golfballs ready to put into the nest box so that Pearl and Marge will know to stop laying eggs in the chicken tube and all over the floor :).
At about 8:30pm we went into the coop, woke up all the ladies (and Ted) and installed this masterpiece. I also put a few chicken butts into the box to show them it isn't scary. Unfortunately though, when I woke up this morning and went out to see them, there were no tell-tale signs of butts in the box. (no poop) so I think they are still avoiding it. Hopefully they will get the hang of it (PUN) soon.
:)
6 comments:
You mean fortunately there was no poop in the boxes. Roosting in the nest boxes is a hard habit to break and no one wants poop eggs. It took months to keep our chooks from the boxes before they were ready to lay.
It looks great by the way. As long as you have it relatively low to the floor, they'll use it, no worries.
Hi Shell!
YES i mean fortunately ;)
We hung it about 2 feet off the floor. Do you think that too high?
Nope. My hens favorite box is about waist high for me and I'm 5'8". I see it's worked anyways. Congrats :)
I love your hen nest box! It is so creative.
Thanks for the visit and comment. Yes, those bare backs on the hens came from 1 rooster in with them. Poor things! But on the other hand, the Light Brahma eggs we hatched in the incubator were almost 95%. Pretty good hatching.
Good luck with the chickens.
Pam
Thanks Shell! Sometimes I feel completely ignorant especially about the chickens!
Hi Pam, thanks for the compliment on the next box. If you stick around, you will start to realize that my husband is very innovative as well as slightly nuts.
YIKES the ROo did that to them? EEEEK
I have nice little nest boxes and mine would rather lay their eggs in the cat carrier that sits on the shelf in the barn. At least I can find them there.
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