Nestboxes

My little baby chicks are growing up!

One of the Rhode Island Red roosters has started to really feel his oats.  He’s earned the name “Cocky.” That’s him in the background.

Cocky has started to defend his territory from intruders, such as my boot.

Not me, just my boot.

And yesterday, he learned to crow.

So with a crowing rooster, laying hens can’t be far behind.

It was time to build a nest box.

I made this 8-hole front-rollout nest box, based loosely on these plans.
I didn’t really change much, I just made it a bit simpler with fewer small cuts.

The bottom of each nest is removable for cleaning, and the bottom and roll-out portion are all covered in cut-up bits of a $10 moving blanket as not to crack any eggs as they roll out.

And, of course, there’s an egg door at the front to collect all those eggs that I’ll hopefully start getting any week now.
I still need to make some roosting-bars so the chickens can get in the nest-boxes better. Hopefully I can make some fold-up ones so the chickens can’t sleep in the boxes at night.

Oh, and here’s a gratuitous baby picture.