Building nesting boxes

Okay, a little trashy looking now but what a great view the chickens have!

At the end of the month the pullets will be 21 weeks old. This is so exciting because this is when I will switch their feed ration from grower to….. layer. Eggs eggs eggs! I cannot wait!!! I have 45 laying hens now, but many of them are several years old and if they lay an egg at all its whenever they feel like it. I know, I am supposed to turn them in to roasters and make rich flavorful chicken broth out of them, but to be honest some of them I’ve been with for quite some time and we’ll…. I would miss them. Roll your eyes as you will but that’s the truth. So they will stay with me until I find them dead. I’ll then place them in an empty feed bag and bury them in the compost pile and say my goodbyes.

Okay, but now, I will have about 170 laying hens in just less than three weeks. Pets, I think not, maybe one or two ….

So the deal is we need nesting boxes in the Hen-a-beggo (Leslie M. CSA member gets credit for the name) for these girls to go in and lay their eggs. Usually you can find them used at a pretty fair price but I just couldn’t find any, and new they cost over $200.00 For a 10 hole. Can’t do it. So were getting creative here and using scrap wood and such. Nate has carpentry experience so this is old hat to him, but I think I could learn a lot.
The box sits in the bus nicely and it’s just perfect for the hens, easy to clean and easy to gather the eggs out of. Just needs hay in the boxes for the finishing touches and it’ll be ready for the hen and her egg! I think this is gonna be just dandy child!

Eggs in the frying pan, eggs in the skillet. Eggs in morning with my millet.
Eggs make me strong eggs make me bold my eggs make me feel not that old.
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