The Chicken Nest Boxes Are Finally Done

The chicken nest boxes Are finally done.....and just in time! As I was working on the finishing touches, I went out to give the birds some fresh water and found a a brown egg on the ground.

Below is a photo of the completed nest box right inside the coop. It's a double-seater, which should be plenty since I only have 4 hens left. I put a hook on the bottom to hand the waterer from as well. I'm hoping the water won't get as nasty if it's hanging instead of sitting on the ground.
The design is fairly basic -- 2 nests with a perch on the front and a hinged top to ease egg gathering. I built the whole thing from various wood I had laying around the barn: some 2x3's, 2x2's, 1x12's, and a half-sheet of plywood. The only thing I purchased especially for this box was the set of hinges.

Below is a picture of the nearly completed nest box in my workshop. Here I'm demonstrating the hinged top and making sure the sizing is right -- notice the Blue Araucana hanging out in there trying tofigure out what's going on.
Once I moved this into the coop, I placed a small smooth rock in one side hoping it would look enough like an egg to let them know what the thing is for.

Yesterday I went in to check, and the rock was moved aside, and a nice brown egg was laying there.

Overall I would have to say I am pleased with the nest box. It took longer to build than I was hoping, but that's mostly because other things kept coming up. I could have purchased pre-built nest boxes, but what fun is that? This was a lot of fun to build, and finding my first egg in there made it all worthwhile.