My mom is almost ddone with building her chicken coop. Now she is just putting on the finishing touches. She is wondering if chickens will nest in plastic boxes if they are cut right and such.
Yes. I just saw a tip in Mother Earth News to use the plastic cat litter buckets (the oblong ones) for nesting boxes. They showed a photo of a row of them with chickens happily nesting in them. They just drilled through the bottom and attached them with screws to the wall behind. Would be easy to clean too.
For my nesty boxes I used old kitty litter boxes cat carriers set up on straw bales. The chickens seem to think they are good enough. I use regular straw for the floor. Once I made the mistake of thinking hay would be better as it smelled better, but it was much harder to clean didn't last as long as the straw when it came to keeping the smell down the droppings from sticking to the floor. I heard people complain that their Rhode Island roosters being aggressive toward them. You might want to check out temperment as each breed has it's own personality. You also have to go to reliable sources for this info, as people who breed a certain type are probably going to tell you they are 'OK' even if they aren't. I had problems with the Buckeye roosters being aggressive, but had no probs with Easter Eggers Isa Browns. The roosters don't use nesty boxes. Really the only time hens use the boxes is when they are laying eggs. I have a few hens that lay in the boxes at night, but 95% of them use roosts or sleep in the rafters. The guineas are VERY loud squawk a LOT. If you plan on having them sleep in the barn, you may get sick of them squacking every night when you go in there to lock the barn door. That's what happened to me.
The good news is, chickens will nest in almost anything they can fit in! If it's in a sheltered/dark area with straw in it, they'll lay an egg in it. I've seen them in baskets, garbage cans, anywhere they feel like. If they don't start laying in them immediately, put a couple of eggs in them and they'll get the idea.
