Chickens can be quite specific in choosing where to lay their eggs. Being that chickens prefer to lay their eggs away from other chickens they will often go in search of a place to be alone.

Tall grass, corners of yards, hay bales, and corners of chicken coops are some of the most common places that chickens will go to lay eggs. This is why it is very important to provide your chickens with a designated nesting area.

Nesting boxes can help prevent eggs being dirtied, stepped on by other chickens, being broken, crushed and even eaten. The boxes will also minimize the time spent searching for eggs around your yard.

Nesting boxes do not have to be anything super elaborate, although there are a few elements that should be accounted for to make them more appealing to chickens than a dark corner of their coop.

Nesting boxes should always be placed in dry, protected places. The boxes should also be made to have slanted roofs. This will help prevent other chickens from roosting above the nests and defecating onto the nests and eggs.

Nesting boxes in a chicken coop should be filled with about 2 – 3 inches worth of nesting material such as straw, or dry wood shavings. This will let your chickens shape their nests the way they like them, also preventing the eggs from getting smashed and dirty in the bottom of the nesting boxes. Chickens will be more attracted to the nesting boxes if the straw, or wood shavings are nice and fluffy.

To maximize privacy, nesting boxes should be placed away from the main area of the coop. You can make your nesting boxes to either sit inside the coop on the floor, or attach them to the wall about 2 inches off the ground.

They can also be made to hang off the back, or front of the coop with the main floor space of the coop open to allow chickens to roam around. Make sure you have enough nesting boxes for your chickens. This is about one box to every 4, or 5 chickens and will ensure your chickens are comfortable.

A recommended size to build your nesting area is 1′x1′x1′. If you are not quite a handyman there are other possible choices other than building wooden nesting boxes that will work just as well. A 5 gallon pail that is turned on its side can work fine.

Just make sure the pail is attached to a coop wall, or braced down to prevent it from rolling around and damaging the eggs. A milk crate makes a great nesting box when turned on its side and filled with nesting materials.

A normal plastic storage bins turned over on their sides may also be used. These simple solutions are very easy to clean and maintain. If you are desperately in need, cardboard boxes may be used, but never as a permanent solution unless you plan to change them very frequently. Making your chickens as comfortable as possible in their nesting boxes will make for happy chickens and more fresh eggs.

DIY Chicken Coop Construction Plan

Looking for a a simple and easy to follow chicken coop construction plans? If you are, check out the How To Build a Chicken Coop in 3 Days by Travis Sago.

The guide comes with step by step instructions which will teach you to, well, build a chicken coop in 3 days. Click on the link below and see how you can benefit from Sago’s blueprint.

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Chicken nest in places that is private and away from other chicken. In fact, they are pretty choosy about where they lay their eggs.

Sometimes chicken choose the corner of the yard or the coop to nest. Eggs laid on the ground in the absence of a proper nesting area can lead to eggs getting damaged, broken, dirtied, or even eaten.

The daily activity of egg hunting will take considerably less amount of time if there is a specific nesting area. Nesting boxes form good nests. They need not be complicated and elaborate.

However, some basic points are to be kept in mind when using such boxes for nesting. They should be attractive enough to draw the fowl inside when it wants to lay eggs. They need to be simple and appealing enough. They can be place in a dry and protected area for the best results.

It is also necessary that they should have an inclined top to prevent other chicken from roosting on the top and dirtying it with their wastes. The nesting boxes need to be filled up with nesting material such as straw. They should ideally spread into a layer of about 2 to 3 inches thick. This gives room to the chicken to fashion it according to their choice.

It also prevents the eggs from getting damaged. Ideally, for better results, they should be placed in a more private area of the coop. They can be either kept on the floor, or better still, can be made to hang about 2 feet above the ground either in the front or back of the coop wall. Thus ground space would not be occupied and the other chicken will have enough space left to loiter around.

An ideal size for the nesting box is a 1 foot cube. Well, if you cannot make such boxes for your fowl, do not worry, there are other alternatives. A 5 gallon bucket on its side is just as good and serves the purpose. However, make sure that it does not roll every time the chicken enters it! Strap it to the walls or brace it in the required manner.

Another household object that serves the purpose is a milk crate turned on its sides. Make sure to fill the bucket or crate with proper nesting material. Then they will be just as good as any other nesting box.

These alternative nesting areas can be maintained with ease and need to be cleaned frequently. Another solution is to turn Rubbermaid storage bins onto their sides. Using these bins is also advantageous because they allow themselves to be easily cleaned and maintained without any hassles.

Well, if you need a nesting box immediately and you are at your wit’s end and desperate, and do not have a choice, a cardboard box should suffice. Be cautioned, their use is not a permanent solution. The disadvantage with using cardboard boxes as nesting areas for chicken is that they have to be changed and replaced time and again.

DIY Chicken Coop Construction Plan

Looking for a a simple and easy to follow chicken coop construction plans? If you are, check out the How To Build a Chicken Coop in 3 Days by Travis Sago.

The guide comes with step by step instructions which will teach you to, well, build a chicken coop in 3 days. Click on the link below and see how you can benefit from Sago’s blueprint.

==> Click here to visit Travis Sago’s web site now!

After the post, I got a feedback from one of my blog reader, Charles from the United States. He sent me couple of pictures of how he used a couple of old fiberglass containers to make a chicken nesting.

I think that’s a very creative way of using whatever resources we have to make the nesting area for the bantams. I don’t think the hen would mind though. As long as she has a dry space for her to brood the eggs, she’ll be very happy.

DIY Chicken Coop Design Plan

Are you planning to build your own chicken coop for your backyard. If you are, check out Bill Keene’s Building a Chicken Coop manual. Bill is a poultry farmer with more than 20 years of farming experience. His e-book has all the tips and tricks on how to make a chicken housing with minimal cost.

Click on the link below for more information.

==> Click here to visit Bill Keene’s web site now!

Raising Chicken At Home

Raising chicken at home may sound very foreign to many people especially in the urban area. We get our poultry usually from the freezer in a super market. It may be very seldom even for your to see a life chicken…unless you live in the country side.

Nonetheless, many people are seeing the real benefits of raising their own chicken at home.

Raising chicken at your backyard is not really a big deal. There are many easy chicken coop plans on the web that will get your started.

Just like our home, there are many sections on a chicken coop that serve a particular purpose. Chicken nesting boxes are a case in point.

Getting The Right Nesting Box

Chicken nesting boxes comes in many shape and sizes. It can be made from material ranging from wood, metal or plastic. The actual chicken nesting box dimensions is not really important. What you want to focus on is ease of cleaning.

Chicken are not the demanding type. In actual fact, the hens will lay their eggs in just about anything. You can use a wooden box, a bowl, shoe box, computer casing etc.

To the chicken, as long as it is warm and sturdy, the hen will brood in it. Lighting is more of a factor that will influence the hen egg laying pattern.

Remember, you want a chicken nesting box that is easy to clean. Preferably, use something that will be lasting. If you want to keep the fresh eggs secured, you may even build a box with a cover. Use your imagination, or get a chicken coop plan. As long at the nesting boxes do its function, your birds will be happy.

DIY Chicken Coop With Nesting Boxes

Do you want to know how to make your own chicken coop with build in nesting boxes? If you do, check out the Building A Chicken Coop e-book. The manual will show you step-by-step with diagrams how to construct your own chicken housing.

For more information, read the comprehensive Building A Chicken Coop review on this blog.

==> Click here to read more about Building A Chicken Coop now!

Related blog posts:

1) Apparently Chickens Are Hip

2) Raising Chickens

3) On the Eat Local Challenge, Rain and Chickens

4) More suburbanites raising chickens

5) Raising Chickens – Rabbits – Goats – Worms in the Burbs

There are many ways how you can make your home self sufficient. One way of doing so is by keeping chickens in a homemade chicken coop in your home backyard.

Chickens are really easy to raise. They are cheap, low maintenance, easy to look after and as a benefit, they produce the best tasting fresh organic eggs.

Nesting Box For Hens

When you are keep chicken at home, one thing that you want to look into is the chicken nesting box dimensions. Off the shelves chicken nesting boxes comes is many shape and sizes. They can be made of either wood, plastic or metal. One key feature you want to consider is “ease of cleaning”.

To keen the hens healthy, you have to clean their nesting boxes at least once a week.

In actual fact, the size of the chicken nesting box is not really important. Chickens are not really a very demanding pets. As long as they have the few basic necessity, chickens will be happy foraging for insects on the ground.

One Size That Fits All

If you are buying or making a chicken nesting box, make sure it is slightly bigger than the average bird size. There is no need to have it any bigger. A nice and cozy fit is more suitable for the hens. Hens will lay the eggs and get broody and sit on them in whatever is available.

If you are on a limited budget, you can actually convert an old fruit crate into a nesting box. If possible, find a box or crate made of plastic material. This comes back to the ease of cleaning again.

When you are preparing a chicken nesting box in your DIY chicken coop, don’t get too hung up on the exact dimensions. It really isn’t necessary and it will not make any difference to the egg laying pattern of your poultry.

Do you want to know how to make your own chicken coop with nesting boxes? If you do, check out the Building A Chicken Coop guide by Bill Keene.

The e-book will show you easy steps on how to build your own chicken house with inexpensive building material. For more information, read the Building A Chicken Coop review on this web site.

==> Click here to read more about Building A Chicken Coop now!

Related blog posts:
1) “Backyard Chicken Coop”, Roosting Bar and Manure Box

2) How to Use a Chicken Nesting Box – Roosting Box

3) Homemade Chicken House Kit

4) Isolate Your Problem Chickens in a Chicken Ark

5) The Funky Chicken Coop Tour!