A variety of birds can be found in the private courtyard. But the most popular of them will be laying hens. The number of heads can be very different. They are kept in cages or in spacious poultry houses, the size of which is determined by the number of birds. No more than four laying hens are planned per square meter of premises.
Poultry conditions
When outdoor maintenance, it is necessary to prepare a specially equipped spacious room. It necessarily contains nests at the rate of one for five heads. In their absence, promiscuous birds will choose places for laying eggs on their own, wherever they like. The dietary product will have to be collected throughout the chicken coop. In this case, contamination and damage to the egg shells cannot be ruled out.
Constructive solutions for building a nest for laying hens with your own hands can be very different. Poultry owners solve this problem in ways that are convenient for them. However, it should not be forgotten that anyeven the most complex, the design should be comfortable and light, be sure to take into account the size of the bird.
Using pre-made nest containers
Amateur poultry farmers can use various materials for poultry equipment. Baskets, ordinary boxes, wooden and plastic boxes can be adapted as nests for laying hens. They must be clean and undamaged. The size of the laying hen nest has the following parameters:
- depth - 30-40 cm;
- width - 30 cm;
- height - 30 cm.
Choose a container of the appropriate size.
It is filled with straw, hay or sawdust and placed in secluded places in the house. Baskets or boxes can be placed on shelves in several tiers. If the nests are comfortable, the bird will certainly master them.
How to make nests for laying hens with your own hands?
The use of improvised materials does not require additional costs. However, such a structure is short-lived. Most often it is used as a temporary option. More practical will be specially made nests for laying hens with your own hands. You will need the following materials:
- boards or plywood;
- nails.
Let's make a simple model shown in the drawing.
It provides for the execution of both a single cell and an entire section. The drawing of the nest for the laying hen has information about the dimensions of the structure. Length, depth and widthone box is thirty centimeters.
Faces of the appropriate size are cut out of plywood or boards. Treat them with sandpaper. Connect with nails. A bar ten centimeters wide is attached to the bottom of the box.
For small spaces, a multi-section design will be convenient. When making the lower and upper parts of the chicken nest with your own hands, their dimensions are determined by the number of cells. In order to calculate them, it is enough to multiply the length of the bases of the box by the number of sections. At the same time, the dimensions of the side faces remain unchanged.
The box is assembled in the same way as a single section. The lower bar is attached to the entire length of the structure. If necessary, it can be performed in a multi-tiered version. In this case, the sections are arranged in the form of a bookcase. Each tier is equipped with a wooden ladder and a horizontal bar, which is fixed directly in front of the cell. This will allow the hen to easily get into the multi-section nest. Flooring is laid at the bottom of each cell.
Frame models of laying hen boxes
There are many options for making bird nests. One of them is a frame way to make a box. A feature of this method is the manufacture of a frame for fastening the bottom, top and side parts of the box, which makes it possible to increase the rigidity of the fastening of the structure. The frame is made of wooden bars, the length of which is forty centimeters. Two identical designs are fastened with nails in the form of squares. Planks are nailed to them, with whichmake out the bottom, back wall, ceiling and sides of the box. The bottom of the front of the nest is upholstered with a horizontal bar, the width of which is from ten to twenty centimeters.
Cunning bird perches
The open designs of poultry boxes do not exclude contamination of eggs and damage to the shell. When making nests for laying hens with their own hands, amateur poultry farmers use little tricks to protect the dietary product from spoilage. As confirmation, we can consider a more complex design of the nest. The multi-sectional model is made in the form of a three- or four-tier whatnot. The lower section is raised above the floor surface at a distance of fifty centimeters. A feature of this design is the inclined surfaces of the bottom and roof of each tier. The angle of inclination is forty-five degrees. A hole can be provided in the center of the floor, and a special pallet on the reverse side. In this case, the eggs will move into it. Each section is equipped with special ladders, through which the bird enters the nest.
Any simple design can be improved with small modifications that will make it easier to maintain and care for the bird.
Nest placement
The poultry house is equipped, taking into account the physiological characteristics of the bird. Each owner chooses a nest device for laying hens in his own way. However, the behavior and performance of the bird depends not only on the quality of the structure, but also on its proper placement in the poultry house.
How to make a nest forchicken to make it comfortable? Nests should be located in remote, darkened corners of the house, providing privacy for the birds. In order for the chickens to get used to and get used to the equipped room, the installation is carried out before the start of laying. It is undesirable to place the nests directly on the floor of the poultry house. They are placed on stands or shelves at a distance of thirty or fifty centimeters from its surface. Numerous livestock of laying hens are provided with multi-section multi-tiered family nests. This design is quite practical in small chicken coops.
Boxes of any design are filled with hay, straw or sawdust. This material must be well dried. Do not use damp or damp flooring. It is periodically changed, thereby ensuring the cleanliness of the nest.
