I promised you, like 100 years ago or something, when we moved to our farm that I'd show you the easiest nesting boxes ever that we set up for our chickens. As with all things in this lifestyle, knowledge is achieved through many mistakes – and Lord knows, we've made 'em. Even with regard to chicken coop designs.
In our defense, the chicken coop at our last farm was already built when we arrived. We stumbled into it, like so many other things, and just dealt with it as-is. I loved the mustard color we painted it and the honey suckle that grew up it's wire. But cleaning that beast out was a nightmare.
For starters, you couldn't stand upright in it. Huge design flaw. But the nesting boxes in particular are what I hated most. Unless you had a good pair of gloves, a gas-mask, and a hand shovel, you couldn't clean the stupid things out. Scoop by scoop, you'd stand in that coop, hunched over, trying to not die from chicken-dust-inhalation, and have to reach deep and scrap hard in each nesting box to clean out the old bedding and poo. It was stupid.
I hated it. That's why I made Georgia do it. Shh. Don't tell.
Fast forward to The Cottage, the new farm to which we moved this winter. The chickens have to go somewhere, so until we can/could/will? build a proper coop, we've been keeping them in one of the 5 bays in our large, outdoor ‘barn'. It's a large area and the ceilings are about 15 feet tall. Yay for being able to stand up!
Anyway, let me get to the point here. The bay obviously didn't come with any pre-fabricated chicken boxes. And since we had to move all the animals quickly, we couldn't take the time to fabricate something ourselves really. Plan C. The easiest nesting boxes ever.
Oh look! An old table was left in the shop from the previous owner!
Oh look! Old wooden apple boxes at a local thrift store for $3 each!
Oh look! Straw from the local feed store for $8 a bale!
Ladies and gentlemen: I am pleased to present the easiest (and easiest to clean!) nesting boxes ever.
Because see what happens when you need to clean the boxes? You lift them up:
Grab/dump out the old bedding.
And put fresh bedding in:
The old bedding can serve a second-life on the floor of your coop (if you're into the deep litter method!) or can be easily scooped into a wheelbarrow and put in your compost pile or garden.
Cleaning the nesting boxes takes me approximately 1.183 minutes. And that's if I have to chase the goose away with a rake a few times.
It may seem like a silly little thing to get excited about, but the truth is, when your farm chores are spilling out your eyeballs and the to-do list is roughly 3 pages long, any victory like this is a big victory. And you've gotta learn to take it and celebrate it!
Cedar chips, straw hay, wood chips, yard trimmings, or even old hay are all great options for nesting box bedding. I was feeling guilty that our ladies had to deal with moldy hay last time so I splurged on a bag of cedar chips. I'm a total sucker for the way they freshen the place up – both in their aesthetic and their fragrance. I looove the smell of cedar chips. Guilty as charged!
Anyway. Plans are in the works to built up an outdoor run from their current home, complete with vintage door, honeysuckle, hand-planked cedar posts, and a little ladder to climb through the current window (which will take them outside). But their nesting boxes will remain here – I simply love this design too much to stray! They could stand a coat of paint or a little pizazz, but considering it's the trenches of March and I'm approximately 21 days away from a brand new baby, I think the pizazz will have to wait until summer.
Sir Isaac, our Lavender Orpington rooster, doesn't seem to mind too much. He just hangs out up there and does his thing.
Sir Henry, on the other hand, seemed to mind very much. He's a French Copper Maran and is slightly more opinionated than the rest. But still a sweetheart. I'm hoping the roosters stay kind so they can stick around. So far so good (and they're over a year old now!).
Lastly, so we can pretend like we're dear friends sipping a velvety homemade, organic, maple-syrup sweetened latte, calmly hanging out with the animals together, and enjoying this beautiful weather – here's a little video of the coop in action. Sigh. Welcome to The Cottage, my friends:
Happy Spring!
Beth
We did something similar with white plastic baskets from dollar tree. They have lasted five years and are easy to power wash.
Theresa Osborne
do you have a picture you can share?
Tiffany
I see you house your turkeys with your chickens. I have been advised against that by a few poultry keepers due to the chance of turkeys contracting blackhead from the chickens. Are your turkeys resistant to black head? I’d love to know more about housing everyone together!
Shaye Elliott
I’ve kept mine together for years without problems. Cross-species stuff can always pose a bit of a risk but not enough for me to build two coops 😉
Micah Wotring
Wait, you have turkeys! Good for you. I am going to get some soon. (Bourbon Reds) Ten of them are coming in the mail here at the end of April. Is raising them from 1 day olds hard? I have read that they are not as hardy as chicks. If you have any tips or tricks please share them. (or if your just as much a newbie as me then I will just wing it)
Thanks for the blog I read it all the time.
I will pray that your family is able to settle down on y’alls new piece of land.
Micah
Peacock Orchard
Yes, raising turkeys the first week is hard. They are very susceptible to mold and the like. You may well find them dead with no obvious reason. You get better at figuring things out with time but the first year we had 1 survivor of 10. Second year better odds. Third year almost 100%. Don’t get discouraged! They are a pleasure, and so tasty!
Micah Wotring
Ok, Thanks. I will be sure to keep fresh bedding in there brooder all the time so that they don’t get an ammonia build-up and always keep fresh water in there for them.
Do/Can they monitor their heat like chickens do (Huddle up, Sprawl out) or do I have to find a thermometer and adjust the heat lamp to mach a certain temp? If they don’t, what is a good starting temp? I know that you are supposed to lower it five degrees until you take the lamp away away.
Also, can they survive on regular chick starter free choice?
Thanks for all your help,
Micah
Cheryl
I see that the chickens and turkeys are together. I have heard not to do that because of black head disease.
And some people say no problem have you had issues?
Julie
I’ve read that cedar chips are toxic for chickens. Just curious what your thoughts are on it…
Shaye Elliott
I use ’em. Never had a problem!
Rebekah Loper
You may want to be cautious about using cedar chips in the nest boxes. Cedar has a toxic substance in it that, especially when chipped/shaved, is released through the dust and can get in your chickens lungs. Make sure the entire coop is well ventilated. Young chickens are more susceptible.
Your easy-empty crates are genius, though!
Cheryl
I use coffee chaff from the local roaster. I get it free it makes great compost
Charlie
I did a ton of research on cedar shavingings. There is no evidence that it negatively effects chickens, all studies are on humans (mill workers) and confined laboratory animals. Although it could be assumed that these same things will happen to chickens if exposed to high amounts. I agree to use caution, using only cedar shavings is probably a bad idea especially when brooding.
Also… Eastern red cedar is not a cedar, it’s a juniper, at all and can even be used to make tea. Just something to consider.
Great article by the way, I’m gonna be on the look out for cheap Apple crates!
Anajú
We are building our chicken coop this weekend 😀 I will take a mental note about having enough room for cleaning haha.
In an off-topic sub comment, I can’t believe Georgia is only 5, she looks so wise. I think I’m too used to city kids with overprotective parents that don’t let them explore life. She looks very independent and able to do stuff. Congratulations, really. You are a great inspiration.
Angie W
Brilliant! We, too, got tired quickly of cleaning out the nesting boxes. Now we just use old milk crates with one side mostly cut out. The hens love it, they are easy to clean, and it’s super easy to move a broody hen, too. Ours are not as vintage farm as yours but the concept works. 🙂
BTW, I LOVE your blog! Keep the posts coming…and best wishes with the new little one to come!
Meg
I think you mentioned that your hubby is a teacher. When I had chickens, I used shredded paper that I got for free from work in their nesting boxes! There was always plenty of shredded paper that my boss loved to get rid of, and I used it in the garden and in the compost bin. It helped keep the weeds from growing (lasagna garden-type method) in the garden. Just food for thought!
Kelley
This may seem like a silly question but I’m not a chicken owner…yet. How do they get to the top crates?
Peacock Orchard
They have limited flight ability, depending on variety. Some fly better than others. Our barn is 20ft tall and we’ll find them asleep in the rafters. They hope up from one roost to another to a wall, etc until they get to the top. Then fly down in the morning.
Peacock Orchard
Do you like your geese? I’m thinking about getting some this year. I’m hesitant because we have a lot of people that like to come see the birds. I’d hate to have geese trying to maul them. Is that a big issue?
Carole @ Garden Up Green
Great system for the birds, keeping it simple is best. We just have chickens and quail. we use similar plastic boxes for the chickens and the quail lay eggs on the ground. was reading your farm is in Washington? If that’s right pretty neat, that’s where I grew up. On the west side, always preferred the east better. My mom lives on the east kin of central in methow valley. Very pretty relaxing area.
Love all you do here – it’s awesome!
vickki
I LOVE it!!!!!! I’m actually having coffee right now.
Bevin over at Life at Third Creek Cottage
Love it! I use something similar; plastic “milk” type crates that I get at Wal-Mart for $4 each. I am normally not a fan of plastic but I love the fact that we can wash the plastic easily.
Ashleigh @ Casually Unexpected
Thanks for this post. We are planning to get some chickens this spring and this is a great idea!
Caitlin
This is such a great idea! My Dad salvages old barns and always has lots of crates around. We currently have traditional galvanized nesting boxes that are mounted in the coop and I love that we can just lift the hatch and grab our breakfast without stepping in poo, but it is a pain to clean them out. I might have to try this.
Thanks for sharing!
Kari
Love the nest boxes, they are sooo cute! Now I just have to find some old apple crates!
For those who commented on cedar chips/shavings being toxic to chickens…..they are. Years ago we lost close to twenty young chicks. We had previously been using regular shavings, but I wanted cedar to make the coop smell better. Evidently the cedar becomes even more toxic when wet, so you certainly don’t want it getting in their water. Perhaps it doesn’t have the same problem with grown chickens, I don’t know. Ours were only a couple of month old. I would hate for someone to loose a bunch of young chicks.
Ali
We use plastic dish pans. They were like $1.50 at walmart. I love being able to just dump and refill real quick. We will never build a coop with built in nest boxes again. They are such a pain to clean!
Mummaducka
I have wooden laying boxes with a lift up lid outside the coop. That makes it super easy to collect the eggs. I line them with plastic tubs and then put diatomaeceous earth kitty litter in them. No egg washing here. Happy hens and clean eggs and at clean out time, i just dump it out and get a fresh bag. Cheap as! Been doing this for over 20 years!
Kara
What is your best watering tips for ducks in the winter?
Shaye Elliott
We just keep ’em in with the chickens. They don’t have a pool in the winter 😉
Wendy
I use the top half of my cat’s covered litterboxes flipped upside down. By far, the favorite nesting box in my coop though is an old cat carrier with the door removed.
Candice Christensen
Good idea! I always have my kids clean out nesting boxes too, but ours aren’t bad??