Upgrading the Nesting Boxes

Hello and happy Monday everyone, or happy whatever day it is you happen to be reading this!

I’m back in the chicken run, pushing myself to get this darn project done before I’m forced to work on it while slogging through the snow.

Watch the video on my YouTube

 

The project of the day is to start replacing the old coop.

As you can see, it’s a mess. I’m actually pretty embarrassed to show you all the state it’s in now.

The story behind this poor beaten up box is this: A close family friend had been planning on raising chickens for years, but it never ended up working out, and the coop sat in their backyard during that time.

When she found out I was incubating eggs to hatch my own birds, she offered us the coop.

Of course, I accepted! One less thing I had to build to house my birds? Heck yeah!

It worked wonderfully, for a while.

• My birds never quite figured out how to roost inside. They preferred sitting on the roof.
• It was difficult to clean the poop tray and close the doors fully. The settling over the years had caused it to warp, which meant nothing fit quite right anymore.
• Cleaning out the nest boxes was a dreaded exercise. There’s no easy way to clean them without the risk of getting chicken poop all over you.

These factors and the combination of time it had already spent sitting exposed, the growing size of my flock, and the difficulty in moving the coop alone, it became apparent it was time to retire the old coop.

I’d originally wanted to use this shed-stable as my coop. I had grand plans.

But the chicks hatched and time to transition them outside came way too quickly, and I wasn’t able to get everything set up in time.

Thus, the gifted coop was a welcomed relief.

 

Now that it’s been in use for a year and a half, I’m ready to retire it and move the birds into the mansion I’d been planning from the beginning.

The first thing I needed to tackle was a design for the nest boxes. I wanted something easy to clean. I wanted something accessible. I wanted something sturdy. And I didn’t want to break the bank in the process.

Almost all the materials I used for this build were scrap I already had lying around. Thank goodness too, with the price of lumber at the moment. The only things I had to purchase were the bins I used for the nests. So I already had a checkmark in the win column.

The only thing I really had to contribute was some elbow grease.

If you’re interested in building this design as well, I’ve already done all the measuring and designing so you don’t have to!

You will need

• Four 1x4 pieces of lumber, cut to 39.5 inches long
• Four 2x4 pieces of lumber, cut to 13 inches long
• A box of 2 & 1/2 inch wood screws
• Three 8-qrt Sterilite Dishpans 
• Two – four 90-degree brackets OPTIONAL 
• Power drill of your choosing
• Measuring tape
• Anything to mark measurements on your wood
• Pre-cut lumber to the above listed measurements, or a drop saw to cut them to size

I started by mocking up the frame to hold the bins. I didn’t want them to sit up too high over the lip of the wood I had, which might run the risk of the birds catching the edge of the bin and knocking it out of the frame. And I wanted them to sit snug enough that they wouldn’t shift too much when the hens were in them.

When I’d decided on a design, I cut all my lumber to length. This kept me from running back and forth between the saw and where I was building the frame.

Starting at either end, I used two screws to hold the outer frame pieces together on either side. You could probably get away one on each side since there are braces along the bottom as well that will keep the separators from swiveling. But I did what I did. Better to be overbuilt than underbuilt, right??

Once you have the two outermost short pieces attached to one long piece, measure 9 & 3/4 inches from the inside of the short pieces on either end and mark this measurement on the long piece of wood. This will be where you line up the inner separators.

Line up those inner pieces and screw them into place.

I screwed the other outer side of frame on now, making sure that the space between the nest box separators measured at 9 & 3/4 inches consistently.

I didn’t measure where to line up the two long pieces to brace under the frame, just eye-balled what looked good, and screwed them into place as well.

To make sure everything was measured correctly, and it would all fit together, I popped the bins into place. (It all fit, thankfully!)

Here’s where those brackets would come in handy. They’ll add extra support to the bottom of the frame and the wall you connect it to. I didn’t end up using any brackets, since I was able to secure the frame directly to two structure beams in the shed. With only three nest boxes, I’m not concerned with the weight of the nesting hens being too much for the screws to handle, and I can always add additional supports later if I need to.

I was hoping to get the perches built for the birds and the old coop torn apart as well, but again, I underestimated the time it would take to get this project done. There’s always next time.

 

Thank you for reading, I appreciate it! If you follow this guide, I’d love to see how it turned out for you.

Have a freaking awesome rest of your week, and I’ll see you next time!

 

-Alyx