Collecting chicken eggs is easier and the eggs are cleaner with a nest box in place.
Chickens do not need nest boxes, as they will lay on the ground or anywhere they can find a dark, quiet place to lay their eggs. However, nest boxes will help with gathering eggs, keeping them clean and preventing the chickens from eating their own eggs. Nest boxes should be just slightly larger than the chicken and hung from the side of the chicken coop to keep them off the ground.
Instructions
1. Hens usually lay in late morning.
Find a suitable container that will hold a hen. A cardboard box, a milk crate, an empty cat litter bucket or any thing that is at least twelve inches wide, twelve inches high and nine inches deep will work. If you do not have something on hand, ask a neighbor or friend if he has something you can use.
2. Use a piece of the scrap wood to create a lip at least two inches tall across the mouth of the nest box to keep the bedding and eggs in the nest box. You can bolt the wood to the box if you are using a plastic or wooden box, or you can tie it in place with wire or zip strips.
3. Screw the nest box to the wall of the chicken coop, at a comfortable level for you to see in but not so high that the chickens will roost in it. Fill the bottom with the wood shavings or loose hay if that is what you have on hand.
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