Nesting Box For Chickens. Our BIG MISTAKE That You Should Avoid!
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- čas přidán 19. 08. 2020
- Nesting Box For Chickens. Our BIG MISTAKE That You Should Avoid! Shop Amazon through this link: www.amazon.com/shop/countryli... Or Support Us With PayPal at countrylivingexperience@gmail.com
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I love keeping chickens, whenever I need a break I go and watching them peck around the chicken run for half an hour or so, its very calming.
They are sure fun to watch.
I bought some of those muscle arms on Amazon and waiting for my Thanos arms to come in! 😂 🦾
@@CountryLivingExperience have you tried removing the dividers in your nesting box to have only 1? I wonder if that would work better than having several dividers there, but I don't have chickens yet so I cannot test it.
@@adrianakuzmikova1697 I actually now have a nesting box with no dividers. It works well. One chicken still likes to lay on the floor though. lol
@@CountryLivingExperience how many chickens fit in your nesting box? can several of them be there at the same time or do they fight?
Ive had two hens go broody in the same extra large nesting box. Then they co parented all the baby chickens. It was amazing to watch. I ended up with 15 baby chickens. 8 roosters and 7 hens.
That is amazing. My chickens are the farthest thing from broody that is possible. lol
The reason I like the lay under there it's because you got straw under there they don't know where the nest box ends and the floor begin
I have 2 broodies, Laverne and Shirley. Laverne goes broody more than once during the year, but Shirley goes broody only once.
When Shirley goes broody, Laverne will as well. They will share the same nesting box and the same broody house. I can't separate them when they do that. If I do, they won't care for the chicks.
Chickens only lay one egg a day. Well, that is the most they will lay. So they all want to lay in the same box, so they can create a full clutch, for one broody hen to then hatch out. This is why they all want to lay int the same box. The longer they sit and wait to be incubated, the lower the success rate for a chick to hatch. And the more eggs lay around, the higher risk that they will attract a predator. So nature has instilled in chickens to all lay together in one spot. SO those eggs have the greatest chance of hatching. But occasionally you will get a hen that doesnt like another, and she will throw out the other hens egg! lol YES! they know their egg, and whose egg is whose!
Thank you 🙏 my friend, I’m a Disabled retired Combat Veteran, Sergeant U.S.Army, 7 years, I appreciate your 🥇 wonderful videos, God bless you and your family, Jim
You're very welcome. God bless Jim.
I think I would have just put a board underneath the nesting boxes to keep the chickens out. Easier than removing and reorienting the nesting boxes.
I needed the coop floor space for the number of chickens I have.
Love the shirt! I have had to make modifications to our coop as well. You live and learn.
Awesome. For sure, always live and learn.
You are such a good teacher. I've been binge watching your chicken videos. Thanks!
Thank you. I appreciate it.
Thanks for making this video, I was about to attach a roll-out nesting box we had ordered, and hadn't factored safe-space underneath into my design decisions. Clearly the whole thing is going on the outside of the coop now!
You're welcome
We love watching your videos! Our chickens have not been using their nesting boxes. they are free range and have been nesting in other places of the barn, behind the barn, in the carport.....everywhere but their nesting boxes in the coop. so wanted to build a new 'addition' on for the nesting boxes so it feels like they are not in their coop but really still are. this video is exactly what we needed to figure that out. thank you
Thank you so much.
Make nest spots so they can't stand up straight..they can't poop in there then!! And most coops they all choose one box no matter how many are available.! Just found your site..will sub! Hugs
Thanks. Nice to have you here.
Genius!
Thanks for this video. I'm researching ideas to build my own coop, and was planning on putting the nesting box inside the coop. So thanks again because that is a simple mistake to overlook for someone new like myself.
You're welcome
I'm glad you were able to adjust the egg boxes so easily! We currently aren't sure if the opening to ours is big enough but as I told my husband this morning, we'll have to see what nature does! We're expecting eggs maybe in 3 or 4 weeks so I'm excited. You folks have a good one!
Thank you. Yes, it was a much shorter project than I though thank goodness. Once they start laying, you are going to have eggs coming out of your ears...lol.
@@CountryLivingExperience No kidding! We have 10 welsummers that will be ready to lay real soon...and 15 golden comet chicks >.>; Release the eggs!
Hi
We always make sure our nesting boxes are lower than the lowest roosting area.
We try to sneak in and out quickly when gathering eggs as to not teach the hens that their laying spot is insecure.
We hang strips of cloth in front of their boxes as well to create a sense of hiding for them.
In my opinion you could cut back on your floor straw by about 2/3, I suspect it's almost inviting them to hide eggs there.
Thank you for your great videos.
Thanks again for the education.
I'd build a brooder box under there for broody hens and their hatching chicks, and leave the nesting boxes in as they are, cuz it works great its how I have mine, lol...I KNOW a lot of protruding boxes are easier, but I didn't want them sticking out, hope ur girls are happier😊👍🏻
Looks great, I will be doing this with my coop, thanks!
Awesome, thanks!
Love their EGG SONG singing as you're talking about their nesting boxes! 😄
They are funny. Make up songs about everything.
Excellent points. We have our coop made, yet are trying to figure out how to make the nesting boxes on the outside. The reminder that we need to make sure the snow/rain has a way of falling away. We have the run and coop secure, yet now in adding the nesting boxes (they are only about 12 wks old), we have things to think about. We needed to get them their coop, as they were growing fast, and antsy to get out in their own space. I was all for that :-)
Thanks.
Good thing to keep in mind for when I build my coop.
Growing up on the farm, as a kid, my job was to feed chickens and gather eggs. Our birds were free range. I learned that the chickens would lay anywhere. On the ground, in the wall of the coop, in any area of the barn, all over the farm. So I had a daily egg gathering route.
Yep. Sure is tough getting them to lay in one spot
Yea I did that at grandma's she had a lot of yard birds and it was like a daily Easter egg hunt to gather all the eggs didn't take me long to learn to put fake eggs back in the same nest to keep em laying there
My coop is a converted truck bed camper, so the nest boxes are on top of the side benches.
cool
I had a lot of trouble with snakes in my coop. Most were harmless except for the heart attack they would give me except for the occasional rattlesnake. I learned to not open the door from the back as a rattlesnake can and will strike out. I made mine open from the top. Rarely will they strike upwards and if they do you can slam the lid down on them which does not help their already cranky disposition. Most rat snakes were relatively polite about the whole ordeal of being removed but the rattlesnakes always seemed to take offense at the least provocation. They were considerably slower to strike upwards than outwards. Just a thought to consider when building a nesting box if you have venomous snakes in your area. Good video.
Interesting. Thanks.
If I found a snake in the nesting box I’d probably just burn the whole thing down and start over. 🤣
@@BDiaz1000 found one in the bathroom of my old house. I shot five holes in a perfectly good floor……
Snake problems? CZcams catching snakes with a minnow cage. You’ll be glad you did
@@DayTrader__ you're correct. I put a fresh laid egg in mine, I think the snakes "smell" it. I usually catch copperheads this way.
Your chickens are so proud of their eggs and telling you about it!!
They are
Sir ,I'm not a pro and by now you have modified it but chickens like to lay in dark spaces too. Easy remedy is build a window or screen to permiate light in the area under the boxes.goodluck .
Looks like you have some mighty cute help, a keeper.
Thank you much
Thanks for the heads up
You're welcome.
Good information thanks, your daughter is so cute, you are a blessed man.
Thanks. I appreciate it.
Hmm interesting. I'm building my coop to overhang inside... I can't build it on the outside at the moment. If my girls do the same as your's I may be changing it in the future. Maybe I could make it less comfy underneath the nest boxes with sand or something lol
Great re-do job. Thanks
Thank you
In my experience chickens will lay on the floor when temps exeed 103F or so, because it's cooler.
You could've also moved the nest boxes up, or put them on the floor of the coop.
I use boxes that are on the ground with the opening up. They keep it clean, it's easy for me to get to the eggs and they like it and lay in them, which is the most important.
I used the recommended height for most breeds. I will experiment in the future.
I’m building a coop now, and plans to put the nesting boxes close enough to the floor where the chickens can’t go underneath them. That was my plan anyways.
Great video. Thanks!
Glad you liked it!
Thank you, I would have made that same mistake with my next build had I not seen this tonight.
You’re welcome. Glad we could help.
I had chickens a several years back I’m getting ready to get some again, I’m rebuilding my shed/barn so I can have a place for them and some ducks and rabbits, and to store my tractor, I have a plastic Little Tykes log cabin play house that I will covert into a chicken coop that should work real well to keep them dry and safe, and I still need to build the pens but but I’m getting there.
You'll get there. Keep moving forward.
Good advice, thank you my man
You're welcome.
Links in the video do not appear when using an ad blocker. Ad Blockers think the link is an ad. Put links in the description.
They are all in the description.
Yes! The dog doesn't like it when you don't talk directly to him because he's a border collie!!! Too smart for his britches!!! :-)
He is for sure.
Absolutely they are, BESTEST BEST dog I EVER HAD. Have 2 hound mix rescues now, the older is smarter (he's 5 ), the younger (3 yr old) is my autistic happy idiot. Not food motivated, not praise or toy motivated- he challenges me daily to get thru to him. Lol, but ALL my "kids" are the best💜🌱🐣
The jist:
1. Nest boxes at least 12" off the gound.
2. Allow no space under boxes for chickens to hide/lay eggs.
3. When making nest boxes protruding from coop, add sloped roof over it to prevent water/snow damage.
4. Put fake eggs in nest boxes.
Got it!
I truly appreciate your videos and all the "why you want to"...not sure if you're in Dad mode or what- but for most adults paying attention (and I'm very carefully listening to every word.) you don't need to repeat every point you make. Tell me once or just have a list at the begining of to do...people can watch the LP on the "why" if they want to. Thank you and Jesus Christ bless you.
Put a couple milk crates under the nesting boxes. Cut one side down half way so access is easy. You double the nesting space while keeping it all in the same space.
I have pasture raised birds, dabbled with various coups from stupid big, down to a tote. Raised hundreds of birds: chicken, Bantam, Guinea, Turkey, Duck... pets, show, food. I did experiments for a couple years just to see how versitile they are. Depending on the breed, they'll nest in some pretty odd and tight spaces. If you have a big barn, you're gold, they can do their own thing. In smaller spaces, things get pretty interesting.
I noticed one hen squeezing between totes on my deck, trying to find a spot to lay. When one finds a good spot, the others will investigate. I took a tote and cut a small hole in the side, put some bedding in and placed it on top the other totes. The hole was pretty small, she still squeesed in there. Within a week, there was a line of hens waiting to go in and lay. I took the eggs daily, leaving one so the cycle continued. Did that for more than a year, until I got tired of cleaning bird mess off the deck.
greetings folks; i finally found a site that i can follow while they do everyday chores befitting their country lifestyle and at the same time doing it in a Christian manner (without the filth i have encountered on other supposedly family sites). thank you for letting me come along.................g
Thank you. Glad to have you here.
Me too, agree completely 💞🌱🐣
I had mine the same as you did, and I moved mine outside the coop as you did, but I put mine at ground level, the baby chicks weren’t able to get up in at night to sleep under their momma when they are young.
I see a lot at ground level too.
Can you paint the bottom of your nesting boxes sky blue so they think it isn’t safe to lay there? The Grand Hotel on Mackinaw Island paints the ceiling of their long veranda sky blue to keep birds from nesting in the eaves above the guests below. Works like a charm.
Sorry, Mackinac Island.
While chickens can see color well, I don't think they have an emotional attachment to them.
My Aussie is the same way
I have 6 hens with4 boxes… and they ALL lay in one it was 5 boxes. I made the maternity ward double wide. Have seen 3 girls together in there. I did hang curtains for privacy
Cluck cluck yak yak, that’s why when wives get together they’re called hens lol
lol
ahaahhaa. exactly the design of my own nesting boxes!!!!
Nice guy but raising chickens is common sense. There’s many different ways and all of them valid. It’s occurred to me that I’ve been raising chickens 20 years so I’m as qualified as any “expert”. I still enjoy the videos
So....Question! Our nesting box is hanging on the outside the coop on one end. The other end is a droppings board with 2 roosts above. Under the droppings board is their plastic feed container & their pop door is under there. Now watching your video, I'm now wondering if they will possibly lay eggs under the droppings board. Tonight is their 1st night in the new coop. They aren't laying yet though. They will be 14 weeks tomorrow (Saturday). Any advice?
It is possible. You will just have to monitor and see where they lay. You may have to keep adjusting the inside of the coop per your chicken's behavior. Good luck. You have a lot of eggs coming your way!
Try swamp cooler pads for box material
Cool. Are they expensive?
Take the straw out from under the nesting boxes and see if that helps. They might think that is their nest under there too because of the straw.
As long as the bloom on the egg isn’t washed off a little chicken poop is perfectly fine. Gross yes, but fine. They will last on the counter unrefrigerated for a long time too. As long as you don’t wash them.
I know. Thanks.
Lol had a concert going there
Lol. Yep. Every single day.
At 9:02 of the video, I noticed your feeders, but looking closer, the tee's look different and they look taped. Can you expand on which on works better?
The one on the right works better. The one with the strait wye. I used the tape because I didn't anticipate how violent the chickens were when they eat. They knocked out the plastic piece I had glued there within a week.
@@CountryLivingExperience Good deal. I actually bought both tees on accident, so glad to know....and GO BLUE! haha
Lol. Good luck on the build. GO GREEN! ;-)
I am new to chickens. We got new chicks around April and are expecting eggs maybe august or September. I have not put the nesting boxes into the coop yet. When do you recommend getting these done?
Get them done when you have the time. If you see them start to lay, get the boxes in asap.
We have four nesting boxes in our coup, and it’s not unusual to find 2 chickens in one box. Guess they like the company😅
lol
Would have liked you to report on how the hens adapted. Did the other three lay their eggs that day in the newly "designed" nesting boxes? Did they immediately stop laying on the floor? I know it really wasn't much of a change, but just curious as to your results.
They all stopped laying on the floor and went in the boxes.
How did switching the box to the outside do? Did the chickens quit laying on the floor level?
It worked well. I only have 1 chicken that still likes to lay on the floor. All the others use the boxes.
Good video only thing missing was a follow-up as to the modification did the trick. Did the modification do the trick
Thanks. It worked.
Just a thought if an egg is still around before lights out won't the chicken stay with egg and not roost on bars???
No, they don't do that. They roost.
Perches should be HIGHER than nest boxes, because at night they seek the highest spot to roost in, and they tend to poop several times in the night. You don't want poop in the nest boxes!
I know.
Once you get an egg eater (chicken) they never go back, and they teach the other chickens to eat them as well. You have to isolate them or get rid of them.
Chickens are also carnivorous, and eat each other's young if given half the chance.
I added some roll-away nesting boxes. That has solved the problem completely.
I have a roost built and under the roost at night one chicken wants to lay there not on the roost I am afraid if I don’t fix this the chicken will want to lay eggs there how do I get this chicken to go up on the roost at night the roost had a board under it where the poop goes so I can clean the poop it under this board the chicken hiss in the corner at night
Did your modification fix the problem?
It did. No problem now.
At what age should I open their nesting box. I have Rhode Island reds and Black Australorp’s. ,they are now 13 weeks old.
I opened mine around 5 months which seemed good for all of our breeds.
Put a nesting box below the other one. Just easy
Straw is a problem too. Shavings are better. Straw gets caught in their crops and creates a sour crop.
I have never had a problem with straw.
@@CountryLivingExperience irfor 20 years, I didn't think I did either. Then I caught a CZcams video of a young woman covering sour crop.....then the kids picked one hen they wouldn't let me dress when her flock became less than productive. We kept her for idk 4 years or so. She would trip over her crop it was so big. I figured out what was happening when she finally died and I opened up the crop to see it was full of straw. For me that was the end of straw bedding. I use shavings in the hen house, sand in the run and those washable plastic nesting pads in the nest boxes. Idk. You may be fine. I suppose it depends some what on how long you keep a flock before replacement. The topic of flock replacement seems to be the third rail of CZcams chicken content.....none the less, I thoroughly enjoy your content. Thx!
Have you noticed that females like a female companion when they go into a bathroom when away from home...as at a party or restaurant? ☺️That may be the answer to "What are you girls doing?". Just company.
lol
That's why they nest on the floor. Hang fabric as curtains over the boxes. More privacy equals more enticing for chickens. Your birds are eating your eggs. That's really bad because once they get the flavor, you WILL lose eggs. Design roll away nesting boxes with a slight slope so they can't get at them. Over time, they'll forget about eating them.
We have roll aways now.
@@CountryLivingExperience Good stuff. I wish more people who kept chickens and posted their builds online would figure that out. I see all these coops with standard boxes and think, welp...that's how you get cannibalism. Also, install a window beside your roost. Chickens like to look for predators to feel secure and the morning light will up your production as they'll start laying earlier. Trust me. You'll thank me later.
@@antagonizerr I have two high windows near my roosting bar for ventilation and sight. I do have a lot of knowledge about chickens.
Do they have to have nesting boxes?
Yes. Otherwise they will lay on the floor in their poop.
You could have just installed a barrier board across the alcove under the nesting boxes.
Yet but I needed the floorspace.
Your problem is pal, you don't have a 4" front on your nesting boxes, with a scallop cut out to aid entry. The other thing too is your chickens don't get natural sunlight by the looks of your chicken enclosure!
Lol! You have zero clue what my enclosure looks like or the extent of it. Your rude comment is ignorant.
@@CountryLivingExperience I'm looking at your enclosure at the end of the shed,dummy.Not forgetting of course you need to learn how to build nesting boxes. I don't know why you put videos up to show why your chickens are not laying eggs. We have no trouble here in Australia, but then Aussies do everything better than Yanks. BTW, give your birds some sunlight & see the difference!!!!!
Rude people are not welcome here and neither are ignorant people. The enclosure goes through the wall into a large outside run with plenty of sunlight. You don't care to look as the 30 other videos of my chickens in full context.
You are not interested in helping anyone but just pontificating your perceived expert point of view and denigrating everyone else. Your arrogance is showing. Put it away.
Vanessa boxes are too big they need to be smaller 12x12
The nesting boxes are to high just lower it their is a lot to thinking about when build a nest box I like 3-6’’ off the floor in dark and confined space and they don’t roost that low on the ground keeps them clean just saying rooster bars at about 20-28 inches this does 2 things they feel safe up off the ground to roost but they don’t feel safe roosting so close to the ground so not in the nesting boxes.
I have two girls either dropping their eggs from their roost bars or laying them in the middle of the coop, lots of broken eggs. Any ideas?
That is a tough one. Do you have enough nesting boxes, are the big enough, etc?
These two are always the earliest to lay, since the others always used the boxes I don’t think the problem is the boxes.
I didn’t have the nesting boxes built before these two started to lay.
@@nathansutherland5749 They may just be used to laying on the floor. Have you tried picking them up and placing them in the boxes while there are eggs in there. Maybe that will help them realize the proper place.
Look at your design. Try moving their roost. They might need a bit of coaxing to go to the right place at the right time -BUT Sounds like they feel more secure on their roost. Think of yourself as a chicken and investigate. Where would you feel safe? Any rodents getting into the nesting box? Disturbed time in the nests?
Its probably darker down there.
Just put a plastic basket or box underneath, they will climb in.
Excellent turnout
Is that an automatic door opener?
It is.
Why don't you renovate coop so you won't have such problem.... Our coops here are traditional just a cuboidal structure made out of bricks... No perches as chicken here free range... No concept of nesting boxes but hens lay eggs some spots which are dark.. Well this was designed for people who had handful of chicken... There is one more design where they put shelves.. People don't use perches
These breeds of chickens roost. It is natural for them to fly up to sleep to escape predators. We have a great number of predators for chickens. Nesting boxes help the chickens to not lay in an area where they pooped. Eggs that sit in poop will become tainted and spoil.
They always want to all use the same nesting box
I hear that.
1:58 Nesting box is too far above ground level. No more the 4" high so the chicken can't get under it.
I raised chickens and ducks for 7 year until 5 years ago when they all got to old to lay.
Just now getting back into it due to bidenflation and being on Social Security.
Sorry, that is not correct. Accepted height is 16" above floor for a nest box. I have worked directly with large chicken egg farms.
Thanks for sharing your boo boo so we don’t have the same problem.
You're welcome
Paint it red
My birds ALWAYS compete for the same nest. They end up breaking eggs.
Bummer. Many chickens do that.
@@CountryLivingExperience I have tried to let them brood on their own, 1 out of 12 eggs survived because i took it and incubated it. Any suggestion on hpw to break a 3 month broody hen? Tried ice pack, putting her out of the coop without access to nests, she chases other hens around as if they're after her babies....ugh. Thankfully she doesn't forget to eat. Haha
I try to not buy broody breeds so I am sorry that I can't help with that info.
How to have a homemadechicken neet
Neet*
Nest*
New here! Do you ever allow the girls outside?
They are always outside. You can't see the connected outdoor run in this video. There is a hole in that metal wall.
how can you get fake eggs? and how do you make a chicken go in there own nesting box?
Yep, they are ceramic. Fake eggs help them lay. Here is the ones we have...amzn.to/2XfLZpf. Chickens don't normally lay in one specific box. You cannot get them to really do anything. All of mine lay in just one box. They are silly.
thank you are chickens have laid there 3rd egg to day
That is awesome!
🥰🥰🥰🇰🇬
Why didn't you just cover up the area below?
Then I would lose all that floor space.
do they ever get to see the light of the day?? poor girls
lol. What? They have an entire outdoor run.
"They could get poop on them"
Call me crazy, but upwards of 80% of my eggs have some poop on them just from coming out of the vent.
They shouldn’t. 95% of my eggs are clean.
Poop on the eggs doesn't taint them.
I know
@@CountryLivingExperience I like your videos but you should try not to contradict yourself.
@CountryLivingExperience
3 years ago
"...Nesting boxes help the chickens to not lay in an area where they pooped. Eggs that sit in poop will become tainted and spoil".
Be sure that sweet girl washes her hands.
You look like the Nordic Nightmare.
Thanks. He is slightly larger than me ;-)
@@CountryLivingExperience lol