Chicken nests with egg box. Do-it-yourself nests for laying hens and their sizes. Video - Nest for laying hens made of plywood

2063 09/18/2019 6 min.

Any animal needs a good home, which should be taken care of in advance. The place of detention should be equipped in accordance with the needs of a particular pet. This will facilitate rapid adaptation to a new place and improve productivity. Equipment or cages for housing can be bought ready-made, or made from improvised means in accordance with the requirements. The place where chickens are kept has some differences depending on the type of breeding. For example, when keeping egg-bearing breeds, it is necessary, first of all, to take care of the conditions for storing eggs, creating comfortable nests. Then you don’t have to look for them all over the chicken coop or in hard-to-reach places.

Nest requirements for a laying hen in a chicken coop

Despite the fact that the arrangement of the chicken coop seems to be a simple matter at first glance, it is not. For bird nests, there are requirements that must be considered when arranging housing for chickens.

1. For nests, it is better to choose a dry, warm and slightly shaded place, without drafts. You should not choose damp places or areas near the entrance to the chicken coop for this. The temperature norm for laying hens is 25°C, and in winter - not lower than 15°C.
2. The calculation is carried out according to the principle: one dwelling for no more than 5 birds. Larger amounts may damage the eggs.
3. Buildings should be raised above 30 cm above the floor. The most convenient construction parameters are 30x30x30 cm. The nest should have a roof with a slope (angle of at least 45 °), and the bottom can be made of mesh to ensure ventilation of the nest.
4. Do not attach sockets directly to walls. Because of this, the durability of the structure is reduced, and in winter, birds can get sick from cold walls.
5. The most popular materials for manufacturing are wood and steel sheets. Each of them has disadvantages. Wood is less durable, and steel sheets are slippery enough for birds.
6. The dwelling should be heavy enough so that the birds cannot throw it away. To do this, you can use hay or sawdust. The litter layer should be a few centimeters below the nest walls.
7. Nests can be placed in a separate structure, but care should be taken in advance.

Chickens are unpretentious creatures. Therefore, it is not very difficult to equip a nest for them. The main thing to consider the above requirements in the manufacture and placement of the nest.

Nests must be comfortable for birds, otherwise they will lay their eggs in the wrong place, from which it is almost impossible to retrain them.

Kinds

Starting the construction of chicken dwellings, one should take into account the main focus of breeding laying hens. Depending on this, the design may or may not include an egg collector. If birds are bred primarily for hatching offspring, then a device for collecting eggs is not so important. With egg breeding, it is necessary to take care of the safety of the laid eggs. In accordance with these requirements, two types of nests are distinguished - boxes and structures with an egg collector.

tricky boxes

This type is a small wooden house with an upper opening. The design allows you to create comfortable conditions for the bird. Since laying hens choose shaded and quiet places for laying, such a structure increases the intensity of laying eggs. In addition, such a nest is easy to build on your own, while it will be quite practical. To teach young birds to rush inside the box, it is enough to place them in it and briefly close the structure.

With an egg box to keep the eggs from pecking

The parameters of these structures vary depending on the manufacturing technology and materials. However, regardless of these parameters, the essence of such designs is to minimize the contact of the bird with the laid eggs. This is especially important if laying hens tend to peck (peck) them. Nests are equipped with special toe trays, in which eggs will be collected immediately after the hens have laid them. Find out how long a chicken incubates eggs.

If a mistake is made in the manufacture of such a device, the eggs will be damaged or broken during collection.

How to do it yourself

In the manufacture and arrangement of nests for birds, it is necessary to take into account the features of various types of structures. The following factors influence the final result:

• location;
• materials used in the manufacture;
• livestock size;
• breeding direction.

When making your own chicken nest, you should think about convenience for both the laying hen and the poultry farmer.

When making nests, the breed of birds should be taken into account: nests with parameters of 25x35x35 cm are suitable for standard laying hens, and structures of at least 30x40x45 cm are required for nests.

Crates and wicker perch

The simplest version of the nest for egg breeds of chickens, but breeds are also suitable. Structures that resemble a box from the inside are easy to build on your own. The manufacturing process does not require special knowledge, it does not take much time and effort. However, some features should be taken into account. Do-it-yourself production will cost much less than buying a finished product.

Dimensions in centimeters

This type of nest is usually arranged in the form of an "apartment house". To calculate the size of the entire structure, you should take into account the number of birds that will use it. There should be no more than 5 birds per nest. The structure can be both separate and multi-tiered. In the second option, it is necessary to bring a ladder to each tier for the convenience of the birds.

materials

To build nests in the form of boxes, you will need the following building materials:

• pieces of plywood and timber;
• fasteners (nails, screws, self-tapping screws);
• jigsaw;
• a hammer;
• screwdriver;
• sandpaper or file;
• saw (manual or electric).

Fastening materials should not be longer than the thickness of the wooden elements, otherwise their protruding ends may harm the bird.

Step-by-step instructions: drawing how to arrange a nest, slope calculation

1. Carry out careful calculations of the parameters of the future design in accordance with the number of birds. After that, make a detailed drawing.
2. Carefully process all wooden elements with sandpaper or a file to eliminate roughness and sharp ends.
3. Cut out all the details of the future building curia in accordance with the drawing. Reprocess if necessary.
4. Connect all the elements together and fix the beam from the inner corners. This will give the box rigidity.
5. Arrange an entrance to the nest with a small threshold in the lower part of the structure about 10 cm high. The entrance can be in the form of an open front side of the box, or a small cut hole in one of the walls.
6. At a distance of 10 cm from the entrance, fix a horizontal rail. It will serve as a take-off area for birds.

How to make a perch for chickens will tell.

The finished structure must be thoroughly checked for the presence of sharp parts, protruding elements of fasteners or roughness. All this can harm laying hens.

With egg box or egg box

This type of nest is especially relevant for farms with a large number of livestock, or for owners who breed birds in order to obtain a large number of eggs. The design allows you to quickly and painlessly collect products at a convenient time for the owner. At the same time, chickens have almost no contact with eggs, so they cannot harm them.

Find out why chickens don't lay eggs.

A distinctive feature of this design is the slight slope of the floor. Thanks to this, the eggs roll into a special compartment of the nest.

Correct dimensions

The main parameters do not differ from standard sockets. Except for the sloping floor. The best option is an angle of inclination of 10 degrees. With such a device, the products will roll into the collection compartment, but will not be damaged. In structures with a large number of tiers and sections, the floor angle can be 40 degrees.

Required materials

For self-manufacturing nest with an egg collector you will need:

• any wood material (optimally - plywood);
• fasteners (nails, screws, screws);
• sandpaper;
• a hammer;
• screwdriver;
• jigsaw;
• scissors.

In addition, this type of construction requires a special soft material for upholstery of the egg collection compartment. For these purposes, you can use felt, linoleum (wrong side up), or any soft fabric.

A nest with an egg collector can be equipped in two ways - with a double bottom or a special container.

Step-by-step instruction

1. Calculate the required dimensions of the structure and draw a drawing in accordance with them.
2. Cut out elements from wooden materials according to the drawing - side walls, bottom and roof.
3. Thoroughly clean all parts with sandpaper or a file.
4. The bottom of the structure should be fixed at a slope with respect to the rear wall of the nest. At the same time, there should be enough space between the wall and the bottom of the floor, sufficient for the egg to pass through.
5. The key feature of such a nest is the pallet where the eggs will roll. It must be made 10 cm longer than the main building, upholstered in the bottom with soft material and attached to the front of a small bar.
6. The pallet is fixed at the same angle as the floor of the main structure. Thanks to this, the eggs will roll into the lower compartments without damage.

The design with the container for collecting eggs is made in the same way. The only difference is that instead of a gap between the wall and the bottom, a hole must be made in the bottom of the container, the diameter of which will be slightly larger than the size of a chicken egg.

Video making a homemade nest

This video tells and shows how to make various nests for chickens.

findings

1. Nests for chickens are a profitable and uncomplicated occupation, if you approach it responsibly from the very beginning.
2. Nests for birds must be made (build, you need to do it right at home according to the scheme) in accordance with their breed and breeding direction.
3. For chickens who need to hatch chicks, it is better to choose tricky nests in the form of boxes, lay them on the floor where they will spoil good bedding.
4. Farmers or owners of a large number of birds, laying eggs, should be preferred makeshift nests with egg box. This will greatly facilitate the process of maintenance, care and collection of products.
5. You can make a home for birds with your own hands and even weave from a vine. It does not require special skills, does not take much time and effort, but at the same time saves a lot of money.

Read how to make cages for chickens.

Hens lay eggs with the required frequency, if favorable conditions are created in the hen house. This applies to the location and size of perches and nests, when choosing which they are guided by the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe chicken house, the number of layers and other criteria. Therefore, perches and nests are usually made independently. First you need to find out what types of perches are.

Choosing the right chicken roost

"Sleeping places" for chickens are classified according to two characteristics - functionality and manufacturing complexity. There are three types of perches:

• Perches. They stretch from one wall to another or are located in the corner of the chicken coop. Such a perch is similar to a ladder. It is often used in the household because it takes up little space and is easy to create;

Chickens sit on perches in several levels

However, it is better to refuse this type of perch. Hens will peck at each other, trying to take the best place- the highest perch. As you can understand, those who settled down below have a hard time.

• Bars. They are installed around the entire perimeter of the chicken coop and at the same height. Making such perches is a little more difficult than perches. But, like them, the bars occupy only a small area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe house;

Above this bar, another one is not installed

On perches in the form of bars, all the chickens can sit comfortably, so there is no need for them to fight. Since all laying hens sit on the same level, their plumage is not dirty with droppings.

• Hygienic perch. This chicken resting device resembles a large box. Perches are attached to the top of this structure on supports. True, with the manufacture of such a perch will have to tinker;

These facilities are easy to clean.

But excrement can be removed from the bed of the hygienic perch, so that the chicken coop will always be clean. In addition, such a structure is portable.

The chicken nest is a deep box. Sometimes wicker baskets or carton boxes. But they are only suitable if no more than five chickens live in the house. For more layers, more reliable nests are needed.

The hen nestled in the nest

Proper location of perches and nests

It is important to place perches and nests in a certain part of the chicken coop. When choosing a place for sleeping chickens, the following should be considered:

• Chickens prefer to sleep where there is the least amount of light;
• During sleep, chickens should not freeze.

Therefore, the best area for perches is the back of the coop, where there are no windows or doors.

Even more requirements are placed on the location of the nests. Here are the four prerequisites:

• Dryness of the place. If the straw in the box is wet, laying hens can catch a cold, which will significantly reduce the number of hatched eggs;
• No draft. Cold will cause serious diseases in chickens, so they should not lay eggs at the entrance to the chicken coop;
• The shading of the place. Nests should be placed in a hidden area, where it is dark;
• Location at the top (at a distance of 30 cm from the floor). It is impossible to put a box for laying eggs on the floor or the ground - chickens will suffer from high humidity and coolness.

Rules regarding the size of "beds" and nests

When planning to equip a house for chickens with perches and nests, they make drawings. They will help you figure out the size of perches: height, thickness, length and number of perches. At the same time, you need to sketch out the layout of the nest. It, like perches, is important to do before settling the house with chickens, so that they get used to the conditions created before hatching the eggs.

Perches for chickens of egg breeds are usually installed at a distance of 90 cm from the floor. And chicken meat egg breed it will be more convenient to climb onto the perches, which are located at a height of 60 cm.

The height of the perches also depends on the age of the hens. Young people need physical activity, so their “berths” should be located higher (at a distance of 90 cm from the bedding on the floor).

During sleep, chickens clasp the perch with their paws, insuring themselves against accidental falls. Therefore, the thickness of the perch should be such that it is convenient for the hens to hold on to it. A suitable cross-section of a bar for chickens of egg breeds is 4x6 cm, and for meat and egg breeds - 5x7 cm. Of course, the bars need to be specially rounded.

The edges of this bar are specially rounded

How long to make the perches depends not only on the breed of chickens, but also on their number. An egg breed hen requires 17 cm of perch. The poultry of the meat and egg breed needs more space - 22 +/- 2 cm.

In a house for chickens that hatch eggs, one bar should be located at a distance of at least 25 cm from the other. And if chickens are also kept for the sake of meat, then this value must be increased by 5–10 cm.

Chickens should not be huddled on short and close to each other perches. Otherwise, the hens will fight and will not be able to sleep peacefully. The worst consequence is a decrease in the number of eggs.

You can check if the perches are made correctly in the following way. For some time, you need to observe the behavior of the chickens. If they can’t adapt to sleeping on the bars in any way, then this means that mistakes were made in the manufacture of perches.

There are strict rules for creating a nest. The optimal width of the place for laying eggs is 25 cm, height and depth - 35 cm.

If a lot of chickens live in the house, then the nests can be installed in three tiers. The first is usually placed at a distance of 30 cm from the floorboards. There should be enough nests so that there are 5 hens per one place for incubation of eggs.

An important value is the height of the sawdust bedding. 5 cm of the nest must be left empty. If this rule is violated, the eggs will fall out of the structure.

Preparation of materials and tools

In the process of making perches, you will need the following:

• Several wooden bars;
• Screws with nails;
• a piece of sandpaper;
• A hammer;
• Screwdriver;
• Plane.

A planer is required for rounding and smoothing the bars. Sandpaper will help remove any burrs. Without treating the bar with it, the chickens will suffer from corns.

When making nests you will need:

• Plywood boards;
• Bars;
• Nails;
• Electric jigsaw;
• Screwdriver;
• Sawdust.

Buildings for incubation of eggs should be made from natural building materials. Therefore, it is worth using plywood 10 mm thick and wood bars with dimensions of 2.5x2.5 cm.

Pine or oak sawdust is most suitable as bedding. Since they lie very tightly, the hen will not be able to shake them out of place. But nothing forbids pouring straw into the nests.

The optimal size of nails is 25 mm. When choosing these fasteners, you need to focus on the thickness of the materials used. Nails that are too long will go too deep and protrude from the inside wall.

Instructions for making various perches

To set up a chicken coop a simple perch of bars, you need to do the following:

1. Process and round a wooden beam measuring 40x40 mm with a planer and sandpaper;
2. Cut out notches in the wooden perch supports and secure them in place;
3. Lower the perches prepared in advance into the grooves of the supports; It is desirable to make the transverse bars removable, having figured out how they can be well fixed on the side bars. Thanks to this trick, the perches can be removed from their place, changing to others, which happens with an increase in the number of poultry.
4. Make a pallet and attach bars to the wall (at a height of 40 cm), which will serve as a platform for the location of the pallet; The pallet is allowed to be created from any materials, since its purpose is to be a litter bin.
5. Make a ladder and attach it to the wall next to the perch at an angle.

The pallet helps to avoid contamination of the chicken coop

If the owner of the chicken coop decided to equip it with a perch in the form of a box, then he needs to study the guide below:

• The first step is to build a box of 4 boards 15 cm high and 20 mm thick and nail the bottom to it - a sheet of plywood;
• A metal mesh should be laid on top of the finished box;
• Two boards must be attached to the two sides of the box with nails;
• In the boards, you need to cut out the notches and put the bars processed with a planer and sandpaper into them.

It looks like a finished perch in the form of a box

Chicken Nest Guide

A “workplace” for laying hens is created based on the following scheme:

1. Making rectangles of 40x45 cm from plywood, for which they use an electric jigsaw. These rectangles will become the roof and walls of the nest;
2. Cutting bars 45 cm long;
3. Assembly of a box from four prepared rectangular parts;
4. Attaching bars to the corners of the box;
5. Making the bottom from square pieces of plywood 40x40 cm;
6. Mounting the bottom to the box;
7. Creation of a threshold from a small board (10 cm), which is nailed at the entrance.

These nests are made of plywood.

Nests are usually placed on special stands in the form of one or two floors (if there are a lot of birds). A ladder made of wood is attached to the structure. Also, a horizontal bar is attached to the nests for take-off.

A chicken house can be improved in many ways: just make perches or hygienic perches, build a nest from a wicker basket or plywood. The main thing is that perches and nests are created in such a way as to provide poultry with comfortable conditions for laying eggs.

Making chicken nests with your own hands will save a lot of money for both a novice and an experienced farmer.

When making nests, one should be guided by the rules that make it possible to make comfortable and safe nests for the premises, taking into account the needs of the farmer and the characteristics of his farming.

Chicken nests are small rooms isolated from each other for laying hens up to half a meter long and high.

Such nests have a number of advantages over a conventional chicken coop with a perch, where all the chickens are together. Installing individual nests allows you to:

• laying hens;
• Improve the quality of laid eggs;
• Protect the laid eggs from the fight;
• Provide convenience when assembling eggs;
• Monitor the performance of each individual laying hen.

An increase in egg production and egg quality is achieved by creating individual comfortable conditions for each hen to lay eggs. Also, the presence of separate nests in the chicken coop allows you to quickly detect sick chickens and isolate them from other laying hens.

Places for installation

The health and productivity of laying hens depend on the correct location of the nests in the chicken coop. The place for nesting should have the following qualities:

• Warmly;
• shading;
• No moisture;
• No draft.

In the cold and in dampness, immunity is weakened in laying hens, and they can become infected with infectious diseases, which will reduce their productivity and can lead to the death of birds, so nests are installed at a height of 25-35 cm from and not close to its main walls to achieve normal temperature conditions .

To prevent the layers from being blown away in a draft, nests should be installed against a wall without windows and doors. It is also important to ensure that the place is shaded.

Types of nests

Depending on the way of doing farming, the number of egg-laying birds and the design features of the chicken coop nests can be made in different ways, each of which has its own advantages and features of use. Nests can be made in the following main ways:

• In the form of individual boxes;
• With built-in egg collector;
• Mounted type.

The bird gets used to nests in the form of boxes quickly and willingly rushes into them. Separate boxes provide the laying hen with privacy and shading, which has a beneficial effect on the egg production of hens, but in order for the hen not to start incubating the laid eggs, it is necessary to periodically check each box for the presence of eggs and remove them immediately, which creates some inconvenience.

Nests with egg collectors have salient feature- an inclined floor, which allows the laid eggs to immediately roll away from under the laying hen into a special tray.

This type of nest is convenient for a farmer who owns a large number of egg-laying hens, since with an egg collector there is no need to check for laid eggs throughout the day, which saves the farmer time.

It should be remembered that nests of this type have a more complex design than box nests or hinged nests.

Hinged nests are relatively easy to manufacture and at the same time convenient for retrieving eggs, but hinged structures need to be insulated more carefully, especially at the points of attachment to the main wall of the chicken coop. Hanging nests can be placed more than other types of nests in the same chicken coop.

In order to achieve maximum convenience and productivity, farmers often combine nests of different types (for example, integrating an egg collector into hanging nests), which allows them to combine the advantages of such nests.

Making and fixing nests for chickens

After choosing the type of nest, the farmer needs to prepare the following tools and materials:

• Plywood board 6-15 mm thick;
• Beam square with a side of 25 mm;
• Fine metal mesh for the bottom;
• Fasteners (nails and screws);
• Electric jigsaw;
• Screwdriver;
• Sander or sandpaper;
• A hammer;
• Sawdust or straw for flooring.

It is important to remember that the timber and plywood must be well dried so that moisture does not accumulate in the laying hen boxes. The diameter of the holes in the mesh should not exceed 7 mm to avoid getting stuck in the mesh of chicken paws and falling through the flooring onto the pallet.

As fasteners, hardware with a length of 15-25 mm and a thickness of 2-3 mm is suitable. For primary grinding of too rough hewn timber or boards, you can use a planer in front of the grinder.

in the form of a box

To make a nest of this type, first of all, it is necessary to measure the room of the chicken coop and determine the number of nest-boxes that will be installed in it at the rate of one box per bird.

The laying box is a rectangular box with a width and height of 0.25-0.35 meters and a depth of 0.35-0.45 meters. Dimensions are set depending on the area of ​​​​the chicken coop and, for example, for a meat and egg breed, the size of the box should be 5-10 cm larger than for a chicken of an egg breed.

Nest-boxes are arranged next to each other in several tiers, as shown in Figure 1.

Picture 1

The procedure for creating nests in the form of boxes is as follows:

1. Make a drawing of nest boxes;
2. Cut the walls and bottom of the boxes of the desired size with an electric jigsaw from plywood;
3. Make four vertical supports 0.3 m high from a beam;
4. Connect the supports with a horizontal bar around the perimeter (you should get a structure similar to the frame of a bench without a seat);
5. On the resulting structure, you need to install a pallet protruding 10 cm forward;
6. Pin 2 beams to the pallet, located one above the other, so that an elevation of 5 cm is obtained, on which the metal mesh should be strengthened along the entire length of the floor structure;
7. Assemble and install the first tier of boxes without bottoms on the grid, instead of the front wall of the boxes, you need to install a threshold 10-12 cm high so that the eggs do not fall out of the boxes;
8. On the first tier, again install 2 beams along the edges with a grid, as in step (6), then install all the upper tiers of boxes in the same way;
9. The cover of the upper tier must be installed at an inclination of 35-45 degrees to the horizon;
10. A pallet protruding by 10 cm in step (5) must be installed for each tier, this is a threshold;
11. A round polished beam must be attached to the nut along the entire length of the tier, this is a take-off platform.

It is more convenient to assemble boxes in whole tiers, since the installation of common adjacent walls will save plywood.

Double bars under the net should be placed at a distance of 30-40 cm from each other so that each double bar is under the adjacent wall of adjacent nest boxes. It is necessary to pour sawdust or straw on the net, which, as they get wet, will fall onto the pallet, from where they can be removed without disturbing the laying hens.

When assembling the boxes, it is necessary to strengthen the connections of the side walls with the lid and the back wall with longitudinal bars from the inside. If it is impossible to install nests in a shaded place due to the small size of the chicken coop, you can install the front walls instead of the sills by making round holes in them for passage with a diameter of 20-25 cm. The hole should be located at a height of at least 8 cm from the level of sawdust on the grid.

The take-off platform should lag behind the threshold by 8-10 cm. The slope of the top cover is necessary so that the chickens do not sit on it to incubate eggs, but if the distance between the top cover and the ceiling of the chicken coop is small, then you can not set the slope.

With egg collector

The device of the nest of this species differs from nest-boxes by the slope of the bottom of the box, where the hen lays eggs. Due to this tilt, the eggs roll into a special tray. A diagram of a nest with an egg collector is shown in Figure 2, from which it can be seen that in order to ensure an inclination, the height of such a nest must be at least 40-45 cm.

Nests with an egg collector can be arranged in tiers, like nest boxes, but since the egg collector is located behind the nest, there are two ways to ensure the convenience of collecting eggs from the middle boxes:

Figure 2

• Leave a place for passage between the tiers of nests and the wall of the chicken coop;
• Reduce the length of the tiers to be able to collect all the eggs on the sides of the nests.

In addition to the basic materials listed above, for mounting nests with an egg collector, you will need non-slip felt or rubber, as well as glazing beads with a section of 10 mm and long plywood slats 2 cm wide for the sides of the pallet.

The procedure for assembling nests with an egg collector:

1. Decide on the size of the nests, depending on the breed of chickens and the size of the chicken coop, increasing the height of the nests by 5 cm;
2. Install the support structure;
3. On the structure in front, install short supporting vertical bars 6 cm high under the place of the future walls of the nests;
4. The plywood sheet-pallet on the supporting structure should be installed with a protrusion of 10 centimeters forward (for the sill) and 20 cm from the back of the nest (for the egg collector);
5. Install the nests on an inclined tray, when installing the back wall, maintain a distance from the bottom for the passage of eggs 6-8 cm high;
6. Beads must be nailed to the egg collector around the perimeter to prevent eggs from falling out by installing vertical slats 2 cm high in front of them;
7. Cover the bottom of the egg collector with felt or rubber;
8. Nail an opaque dense fabric onto the egg passage on both sides;
9. Install the take-off platform and pour the flooring on the grid.

It is important to remember that the vertical bars in step (3) are taken 6 cm high for a pallet depth of 40 cm, with a different pallet depth, it is necessary to calculate the height of the supporting bars so that the angle of the net to the chicken coop floor is about 5 degrees.

Cloth nailed in the egg aisle should be flexible enough to bend freely under the pressure of the egg, skip it and return to its original place. This can be achieved by experimenting with a loose rubberized fabric.

Mounted nests

In the manufacture of hanging nests, you can use the most various materials. Instead of cutting out individual parts of the box from plywood, you can take ready-made plastic boxes with a slatted bottom, which are used to store fruit, or use wooden boxes that are not too heavy.

When choosing a material for hanging nests, you need to make sure that it is strong enough, since there are no supports under the nests of this type, and they are attached only with side fasteners. The nest must be able to support a laying hen, so when using soft plastic boxes, additional wire cords should be installed to support the edges of the nests by fastening to the wall of the hen house above the nest.

Hanging nests are important to be well insulated, as they are often attached to the wall of the chicken coop for greater strength.

For insulation, you can use:

• Felt;
• Thick woolen fabric;
• Styrofoam upholstered with thin plywood;
• Packed straw.

When assembling and installing nests of all kinds, it is important to provide access to them for regular cleaning and cleaning of used sawdust and debris.

Nest training chickens

When installing new nests, chickens often continue to rush in the same place. There are tried and tested methods for accustoming laying hens to nests:

• Leave an egg or its dummy in a new nest;
• Close the chicken in the nest-box at night;
• Deprive chickens of access to the old place of laying eggs;
• Put pieces of fluff in new nests.

As a model, you can use round pieces of chalk or limestone. The hen will instinctively seek to rush in places where eggs are already lying. Pieces of fluff in the nest also contribute to getting used to a new place.

It is important to remember that hens prefer to lay eggs in quiet shady places, and comfortable temperature for the best egg production is +23 degrees.

Nest Care

Laying nests must be kept clean and dry to ensure good egg production. As sawdust from chicken secretions gets wet, they must be removed from the grid, then wiping the grid with a disinfectant solution and airing it. This procedure should be carried out at least once a week, daily removing the dirt that has fallen onto the pallet through the holes in the grid.

It is important to periodically (once every three months) check the strength of the nests fastenings to the walls of the chicken coop and the floor, and if necessary, strengthen these fastenings in order to avoid destruction of the structure.

Before the onset of winter, all insulating materials should be checked and those that have become unusable should be replaced, and with the first frosts, it is necessary to control the air temperature in the nests at least 2 times a day to make sure that such nests are reliably insulated. In winter, the temperature in the chicken coop should not fall below +15 degrees.

For a poultry house, nesting is a necessary attribute. If there are no nests, the eggs will spread all over the room and collecting them will be an unpleasant experience. You will have to constantly rummage in the litter, risking stepping on a "mine". So specially equipped places will save time and nerves. How to make nests for laying hens with your own hands? Dimensions, photos and important recommendations for perching - in this material.

The hen spends about an hour and a half in the nest. This capricious young lady may not like the prepared place, as a result you will have to look for eggs in the most unpredictable places. If a fragile product is lying around anywhere, it will most likely be soiled and even pecked.

Note! Chickens do not like to rush in a noisy passageway. The subtle nervous system poultry responds to any stimuli. In a state of constant stress, the quote will not rush.

As a nest, you can use a simple fruit box or a plastic bucket laid on its side. But there are designs that chickens are guaranteed to like. How are they different from a regular box? Consider:

• the nesting place must have a roof. Its purpose is not to protect the masonry from rain at all;

Advice! The movable folding roof will greatly facilitate the task of changing the bedding.

• the bottom of the nest is best made from a metal mesh with a small cell. Such a device will ensure air circulation in the litter. So dampness is not formed and the eggs will be dry and clean;
• shavings, sawdust or tightly pressed straw are used for bedding;

• for every ten hens, at least two nests must be provided. The optimal number is three;
• nesting structures should be installed while young birds are mastering the chicken coop. Later, when they begin to rush, they will already get used to the new environment.

Note! There should be no sharp protruding objects in the nesting place: nails, plastic chips. The bird can get damaged. Wooden parts are recommended to be polished from accidental splinters.

The optimal nest sizes for laying hens are three hundred millimeters in three directions.

What are the nests for laying hens with their own hands: sizes, photos

Nests can have different dimensions and devices. Consider the most popular.

Variety	Image	Description
		They look like a box with a hole and resemble a dog house. This form guarantees the laying hen complete privacy, the absence of drafts, noise and other annoying factors. To accustom a laying hen to such a nest, she is briefly closed in it.
		These are simple nests for which buckets, basins, vegetable boxes and other improvised materials are used. This is a temporary option that is suitable for beginner poultry farmers. Such devices will not last long and will not provide the cows with the proper conditions for the production of eggs.
		Such designs are a sign of a professional approach to the poultry house. The device has a slope at the edge or a funnel in the center for receiving eggs. In such nesting, the hen practically does not come into contact with the egg, so it will be whole and clean.

If desired, you can buy a factory-made nest for chickens. The choice is not large, but such kits are made in compliance with the requests of the home chicken.

How to make nests for laying hens with your own hands: several options

The main nesting parameters are known. How to build it in practice? A suitable hen house can be built from plywood, OSB boards or simple boards.

Option 1: a simple nest for laying hens (to avoid pecking eggs)

This is a simple box, like a fruit container. It is made from plywood. The bottom is covered with shavings or straw. Several of these nests are placed at a distance of half a meter from the floor, for each you need to make a bridge for the bird. It is possible to combine five or six nests into one design with a common front and rear side, bottom and dividing partitions.

Option 2: a house for a quote

As we have already said, this construction is similar to . First, a box is made with dimensions of 30x40x30. One side of the crate, the roof, should open up to make it easy to collect eggs and change bedding material. A rounded entrance for the chicken is made in the outer wall. It remains to collect all the details together and lay the straw.

Option 3: do-it-yourself nests with an egg collector for laying hens (drawings)

How to make a do-it-yourself nest for laying hens with an egg collector? Photos, dimensions and drawings of such devices are given below.

The advantage of such devices is that they allow you to collect eggs once a day. The main difference between such a laying place is the presence of a slight slope, which allows the egg to slowly and safely roll into the receiving device. For this purpose, an inclination of only ten degrees is sufficient. To receive eggs, a tray from a regular one is suitable.

Note! For this nesting design, a small layer of litter is needed. The floor must be hard enough for the egg to roll on it in the desired direction. Lay a piece of soft cloth in the tray.

Pecking eggs: the reason in the nest?

Hens make up for the lack of minerals by pecking their own eggs. Such behavior is not at all in the interests of the poultry breeder. It is important to approach the problem from different angles:

1. Introduce chalk into the bird's diet.
2. Enlarge the walking area.
3. Allow the hens to pluck the grass.
4. Set up the nest properly.

Note! Some aggressive breeds of chickens are recommended to be subjected to the debeaking procedure - cutting the tip of the beak.

Too bright light, high inconvenient location, close placement of several nests can lead to the fact that the bird will peck not only its own, but also other people's eggs. In close quarters, they can crush the fragile shell by accident, and then, having tasted its contents, they become addicted to such food.

How to place a nest:

• not lower than thirty centimeters above the floor;
• in a place where there is no draft and bright lighting;
• fastening nesting must be very reliable;
• it is necessary to install a take-off bar in front of the entrance.

How to make perches for laying hens with your own hands: sizes, photos

We looked at how to make a nest with your own hands for a laying hen. Dimensions, photos of devices and their variations will help to rationally organize the nesting nesting place. But another important element of the poultry house is the perch. The sleeping place is also important to properly organize. The chicken should eat well and fully rest. This is the only way to achieve good performance from it.

Types and drawings of perches for laying hens with their own hands:

Types of perches	Image	Description
		The most uncomplicated perch option. The crossbars are located along one of the walls directly on top of each other. Takes up little space and is easy to install. But it should be borne in mind that the chickens will stain each other with droppings and fight for the top position all the time.
		They are installed along the perimeter of the house at the same level. In this case, the chickens will not have to conflict with each other.
		Making such a perch will take some time. The advantage of the device is that it is easy to clean and move.

Dimensions and placement principles

Perches, like nests, must be located in a place where the bird does not catch a cold from a draft. The farther from windows and doors, the better. The height of the perch is from half a meter to a meter, it all depends on the size of the layers. The smaller your chickens, the lower the perch.

In order for the crotch to sit comfortably on the poles, the thickness of the stick must be convenient for girth. The poles should be rounded, it is inconvenient for the bird to hold on to the slats.

Note! Some breeds of chickens lay right on the roost. For such a bird, you should make a slight slope of the pole and place pallets with soft bedding under it.

For each bird, a minimum of twenty centimeters of poles and a distance between supports of thirty centimeters should be provided. Broilers will need 25 cm and 35 respectively. Chickens are enough 15 and 20 centimeters.

Advice! Observe the bird after setting up the perch. Her behavior will tell you if everything is done correctly.

Making a perch

Now let's figure out how to make perches for chickens. To work, you will need an ordinary hammer, planer, sandpaper for grinding and a forty bar.

Planks with grooves prepared for poles are fixed to the walls of the house. The distance between the grooves is calculated based on the breed and age of the bird. It remains only to insert the poles into the grooves.

Advice! Make additional grooves in the wall planks so that you can change the height and distance between the supports as your birds grow.

Tips: how to prepare a nest for hatching chickens

A cozy nest for the appearance of babies should be prepared in advance. It should be slightly larger than usual - about half a meter by thirty-five centimeters.

This design can be used for many years in a row if stored in a dry room. Have a place for the hen away from the rest of the nests, a place where the hen will feel comfortable and safe. So that rodents who like to go into the house do not damage the eggs, it is better to place the nest above the floor, fixing it to the wall. If you have not one, but two or three hens, “spread” them on different sides of the chicken coop. Some poultry farmers advise covering the chicken on the masonry with a wicker basket so that it is not distracted by extraneous noise and does not react to other birds.

Chickens are responsible mothers, they can refuse to eat and drink all the time while sitting on their eggs.

Water should be in a stable bowl so that it does not accidentally enter the nesting box. If the chicken does not get up to eat for the first three days, it should be carefully removed from its familiar place and. In the future, she will get up for ten minutes two to three times a day to eat.

Feng Shui for the poultry house

So, we studied nests and perches for chickens. With your own hands you can make both, and literally in a matter of hours. What is important to remember:

• nests are best made with a drop-down roof, this will provide privacy for the hen and facilitate the collection of eggs and changing the litter;
• masonry places are located in a darkened place on a hill, away from the door and window;
• perches should be made from rounded poles. The distance between the bars is determined depending on the size of the bird.

The poultry house should always be kept clean and dry. Make sure that rats and ferrets do not enter it. Periodically, the bedding should be treated from insects that may disturb the bird.

Many bird breeders believe that there are flaws in the standard methods of breeding chickens, and therefore new solutions are needed. A nesting box for laying hens is an important component in proper maintenance. This material will describe several basic options for such structures, as well as give detailed instructions on how to make a nest for laying hens (and others) so that eggs do not peck. The video at the end of the article will help you better understand all the nuances.

What is the function of the nest

For most farmers, it is no secret that you can find eggs in the birdhouse in the most unpredictable places. Often a similar phenomenon is observed in the summer months, when chickens choose any secluded corner for laying eggs.

In order not to have to search the entire walking area every day, it is advisable to arrange a separate corner for nesting. There are birds that, with great pleasure, peck at fresh eggs. To prevent such actions, a collection is being built for egg products, where they will be safe.

Even a varied, rich diet is not a guarantee that the bird will not peck at the masonry. The presence of such cases is reminiscent of a natural disaster in a small farm. To improve the nest, and the safety of the eggs, the houses are equipped with an egg collector where laying hens cannot penetrate.

Types of nests

There are several types of designs:

• nest in the form of a box;
• construction from materials that are at hand;
• nest with a collection for eggs.

Nests in the form of boxes resemble a box equipped with an entrance. Inner space is intended for oviposition, besides, the bird feels completely safe here. Nest boxes differ from each other in the number of cells. A big plus of the structure is the factor of quickly accustoming chickens to carry eggs inside. The bird is put in a house and closed in it for a while.

The option of a nest made from improvised materials is common among poultry farmers who have just started dealing with domestic chickens and have not yet fully equipped a room for them. A convenient way for those who breed layers temporarily or keep a small herd. It is important to remember that all improvised products (box, basket, box) should not be dirty or damaged. Unlike a nesting house, such structures are short-lived, and space is used irrationally.

A nest with an egg collector is considered the best option, despite the fact that it will take some time to build it. There are a large number of different models, but they all differ in that the bird has very little opportunity to contact the masonry. Here, egg products are not collected from nests, but from a special container, in contrast to the options described above. To install the pallet, you will have to equip the nesting house with a funnel-shaped hole in the central part or make the floor with a slope.

Structural dimensions

No matter which type of nest is chosen, there are size standards that must be followed. Depth - from 30 to 40 cm (it depends on the breed characteristics of chickens), height and width - 30 cm. The material for making nests must be polished. If nails are used, they should not be long. In the absence of such, sharp protruding parts must be cut and rubbed to avoid injury to the bird.

Place for nesting

An important aspect is the correct placement of the house in the birdhouse, it must correspond to the physiological subtleties of laying hens:

• be located above the floor surface at least 30 cm;
• the length of the take-off bar along the section is 5x2 cm and is located at a distance of about 10 cm from the entrance to the nest structure;
• bedding is straw or wood shavings;
• it is important that the nesting house can be ventilated, for this the floor is made of mesh or holes are drilled in it for ventilation;
• it is necessary to put the structure in the most darkened place, without wind;
• it is undesirable to fix the nesting house on an uninsulated wall, because of this, the durability of the structure is lost, and in the winter months cold air will flow from the wall.

The requirement for nests is as follows: comfort, both for the chicken and for the attendants. The nest box should not interfere with cleaning. It is necessary to stir, if possible, in an easily accessible place in order to systematically replace the litter and collect eggs. The bird may refuse to lay in the equipped structure, in which case the nesting house needs to be improved.

How to make a box nest

You need to get the following tools and materials:

• wooden or plywood boards;
• self-tapping screws (nails);
• sandpaper;
• saw;
• hammer;
• screwdriver.

As mentioned earlier, it can be either a separate cell or a whole structure consisting of sections.

Step-by-step instruction:

1. Carry out the processing of plywood or boards with sandpaper.
2. Cut the material according to the size of the future nest. It is important to remember that one cell is not less than 30 cm in length, width and height. To calculate the length, multiply the planned number of compartments by 30. If the bird is large, then large sizes are taken.
3. Make a box from blanks. You can strengthen the future nest by attaching strong bars in the corners, from the inside.
4. No nails or sharp parts should be inside.
5. Entry is easy: the front of the box is left open as the easiest method. Or you need to cut holes in the shape of a circle, each of which will lead to its own compartment.
6. At the bottom of the box in full length, strengthen the bar, which has a height of 10 cm and acts as a threshold.
7. A wooden bar is attached to the entire length horizontally, keeping a distance of 10 cm from the inlets, which will act as a take-off platform.
8. A ladder is being made for nests with several tiers - it is important that each level has its own ladder.

Nests equipped with an egg collector

This type is not so hard to construct yourself:

1. Planks with a cross section of 30x50 mm are twisted into a rectangle, which will correspond to the number of compartments in the nest.
2. Plywood sheets are attached from below, acting as a bottom, which is recommended to be sealed with a material (not too slippery). For example, the reverse side of linoleum.
3. Make walls with a ceiling, and also apply jumpers (for a family nest).
4. Fix the pallet by making a slight slope (5.4 - 6.1 cm).

The litter on the floor of the nest is poured in such a way as not to interfere with the eggs rolling. The tray is completely covered with soft materials, otherwise all products may be beaten.

It is necessary to equip nesting houses with maximum responsibility. Full compliance with all requirements can guarantee that the chicken will lay as many eggs as it meets the breed standard. Perhaps the nests do not have any tricks, but all products will be safe and sound. If the breeder decides on some kind of innovation, then why not apply it, because there are no absolutely identical chicken coops. It does not matter if the nest does not meet accepted standards. It is important to observe the size of the cells so that the bird feels most comfortable and do not forget about the rules of placement.

Video. How to make nests for laying hens so that eggs do not peck.