Interior or exterior nesting box?

[flagg6805]

Hi All! I'm in the process of drawing up plans for my very first chx coop and I have a question about the nest boxes. I've seen designs where the nesting boxes stuck out of the side coop (exterior nesting box?) for the convenience I guess of being able to collect the eggs. I've obviously also seen designs were the nesting boxes were inside the coop itself and you actually had to walk in and get the eggs (though I suppose even with those it'd be possible to put a door behind the nesting box to have access from the outside.) My questions is, which is a better design. I was thinking of the outside type to provide easy access to the eggs, but my wife worries about the lack of insulation that those boxes would exposed to, perhaps making them colder and thereby decrease egg production. I think in general her concern is the hens would be warmer if the nests were inside the coop that outside. Insulating outside boxes seems like it would be too much effort. Anyway, we decided to post the question here to see what is the better option.... outside (ie, sticking out of the side) or inside? We live in New York, in the Hudson Valley. We always see several feet of snow throughout a winter and on cold nights it can get into the teens with occasional below freezing temps (especially w/ wind chill and we have nights with strong winds!)

Thanks in advanced for your help!

-rick

 

[happytxchick]

My nest boxes are inside the coop; however, I've seen the "external" ones you speak of and dream about them in my spare moments of "chicken daydreaming." I, however, live in Texas, so I don't think the extremely cold temps would be of concern here. I can see your concern there, and can only offer that if you DO decide on the external version, be sure to put them on the south side of your coop. One other thought, if worse came to worse, and you were expecting harsh lows, you could do a quick temporary insulation wrap just to get them through the tough weather, kind of like wrapping pipes or plants in the winter.

 

[CityChook]

My nestboxes are inside for exactly the reason you mentioned -- it's too cold to have 5 of the 6 sides exposed to cold air and insulating the box was too bothersome. I don't really know if it would decrease egg production, but you *could* lose more eggs to freezing and cracking. I don't mind going inside to check for eggs and check in on the girls, so it's not a big deal to have the boxes inside. As long as you put them at least 14-18 inches off the ground, they don't take away from any of your interior square footage.

 

[rubyrogue]

I just finished my outside nestbox. For me it gave me more floor space inside my coop and made it easier to collect eggs. We dont really get too much snow here but when the weather turns cold again i will go from there as to what to do about keeping it warmer.

 

[patman75]

Mine are interior mounted (because of cold concerns) but with an exterior access door so it much easier to collect eggs and not disturb the chickens if I get home late at night. Plus I think there is no way my wife would go inside the coop to get the eggs. Here are some pics.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=270176

 

[WitksChicks]

My nest boxes are inside the coop, however, I do have a door on the outside to them. So I don't have to go into the coop to collect eggs. Check out the pictures under coop construction on my website.

 

[sunflowerenvy]

I would have inside nest boxes due to the cold New York winters i would make a door behind the nest boxes double insulated and have it on southern side too.
laura

 

[teach1rusl]

Mine are inside, but elevated about 2 ft so no floor space is lost. I actually enjoy visiting inside my coop each day, so I don't give a 2nd thougth about going inside. If I had external boxes, I'd still go inside to visit, watch them lay, clean, etc. I use dropping boards, so it's not like I'm typically walking through poo or anything when I go inside. I guess it comes down to personal preference and how much time you expect to devote to your birds???

 

[PhilErvin]

My nest boxes are accessible from the outside but are part of the coop that I would consider interior boxes.
Check out my design at my site

 

[patandchickens]

IMO there is only one time when it makes legitimate sense to have an outside nestbox: that is when you have a tiny *and low* coop, such that floorspace is at a premium and the coop simply isn't tall enough to enable raising the nestbox up off the floor so chickens can walk underneath.

In any other circumstance, IMO it is a pointless waste of energy to build, and a pointlessly weak point in your weatherproofing and predatorproofing.

You needn't have an exterior box to have outside ACCESS for collecting eggs -- just build normal interior boxes, up on the wall so there is at least 14" under them for chickens to walk around there, and make an access hatch in the wall so you can open it and reach thru and get eggs.

Presto, best of both worlds

(Of course, *not* having any exterior access is even *more* weathertight and predatorproof, but in most climates it's not a big deal as long as you build the access panel intelligently)

JMHO, good luck, have fun,

Pat