The bucket nest boxes I originally put in the Heras Panel Pasture Pens never really worked very well, They just weren;t quite big enough and could cause hens to break eggs. But because I used these pens more for grow outs it didn't matter too much and I changed the one I used for the layers into a bigger nest box like the one in this post.
Currently I have all three of these pens with potential laying hens in. So it was time to upgrade the last two pens to have proper nest boxes, which can even stay in when raising meat birds in there as well.
I had decided on a blue food barrel as they are easy to clean, about the right size and cheap enough. It almost seems like a waste, but they only cost about £4 and if I was to build it out of new wood it would cost far more.
It's fairly simple to make. Cut just a barrel and take the middle section out of it, leaving the sides intack. I do these cuts with a thin metal cutting disk in a small angle grinder - creates a lot of plastic dust so make sure you wear eye protection! Then create some wooden supports with a timber on the front to act as a perch and one on the back to stop the plastic ripping - something I learnt from the first one I made.
Also I always drill a few drainage holes in the bottom, the pens are water proof but sometimes driving rain can get in there and it's good to have an escape for any water that is collected.
I then fitted the nest box by screwing through the back batten into the pen itself. Always make sure the nest box is lower than the perches otherwise birds will want to roost in them at night.
I tend to fill mine with either sawdust (which is a product I am never short of due to being a carpenter) or cut long grass and herbs to fill it.
What do you fill your nest boxes with?
Do you like this idea of a blue barrel or prefer a nest box made from wood?
I love your ideas for repurposing things! The pen looks like two pieces of fencing or gates in an "A" frame. Brilliant!
ReplyDeleteI recently changed our chicken coop from wood to an Eglu, which is mostly plastic. So much easier to clean!
We add shavings to our nesting boxes, always sure to place some home-grown lavender in them.
I have a post on the pens- they work really well. I'm a firm believer that chickens don't need a coop.
DeleteWe have been given shavings. The vet said we shouldnt use them due to dust. But then again the same vet didnt seem to realise how young mine were and that is why their faces were pale, she also thought that something was wrong with them because they didnt have combs...? lol they are 14 weeks they have a few weeks to go. I understand a lot of people dont take their chickens to vets and prefer to dispatch them as it isnt economically viable, but my chickens are pets with benefits. I need them for the garden and amusement. We are putting up a cage at present as the neighbour had 3 taken by a bird of prey. We lost one previously and we didnt know if it was badger or bird of prey. Got to protect my feathered friends.
ReplyDeleteI am patiently waiting for my BIL to replace his plastic shed with a bigger one like he keeps saying and then I will take it off his hands and it will be a dry chicken coop that I can jet wash.
DeleteI don't think the dust is too bad (depends on the wood I suppose) as they like a dust bath anyway. Vets for us and chickens are a no no, most have very little experience and chickens seem to have two states of being - alive and dead. we do well to see then on the in-between. Luckily I have a friend who is a vet so can message him if I need to on most things. So far, and I shouldn't say this, my mobile pens have been proved to be safe from predators.
DeleteOn the farm the nest boxes were all wood, but probably only because they had been around since Adam was a cowboy and plastic barrels didn't exist in those days (all rusty old metal ones). I'm sure if plastic barrels were about my Dad and his brother would have been as innovative with them as you have been. We used straw.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think it's often what you have to hand that works. I don't think they would have been fussy in the past.
Deletewhat about some ducks that need a home? any room for some of them for eggs? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-53832858
ReplyDeleteWe just hatched out a few more ducks - we're more keen on ducks for meat than anything else really.
DeletePS - I built my bean fences like your chicken coops - Heras fences. They make great bean fences.
ReplyDeleteThey're handy things to use. I remember weaning the lambs years ago and the sheep finding a weak spot in the fence so heras panels came in very handy!
DeleteI have plastic totes also. I like them better then wood. If they get messy you can wash them out, dry them and pop them back in place rather quickly. Wood needs to dry and then there is the problem of mites. So I give your "boxes" a big thumbs up.
ReplyDeleteYeah, these coops are great for the lack of places for mites, makes everything really easy to clean up.
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