Please help, rollaway nest box in their Eglu Cube?

[Ddb123]

One of my four hens is eating her eggs. No fun. I am trying to diy a roll away nest box inside my Eglu Cube. Desperate and not very mechanical. Anyone bought or made a rollaway for their Eye Cube?

First attempt (pictures with white tray), I used a solid seed starting tray. Thought it might be too slippery.
Second attempt, a black mesh bottom seed starting tray.
I ramped up one end with bricks and scrap wood. Put some scrap pool noodle pieces as a bumper to cushion the eggs landing. Cover the bottom half of the catchment tray with a half size seed starting tray.

Worries. 1) it will scare the chickens and they won't lay in the box anymore.
2) Their toes could get caught in the little mesh holes?

I am seriously considering closing off the nesting area and putting a commercially made nest box in the run area.
I would really appreciate your suggestions and feed back.

Thank you
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[FrostRanger]

Not sure how to add a rollaway for that coop, but switching to a high protein feed (anywhere between 18-22%) and providing oyster shells on the side if you don't already do so can help curb egg eating as sometimes hens do that because of a nutritional deficiency. Hopefully someone will chime in about turning your nest box into a rollaway 'cause that's still a good idea, I just wanted to point out a possible cause of your problem

 

[Ddb123]

Not sure how to add a rollaway for that coop, but switching to a high protein feed (anywhere between 18-22%) and providing oyster shells on the side if you don't already do so can help curb egg eating as sometimes hens do that because of a nutritional deficiency. Hopefully someone will chime in about turning your nest box into a rollaway 'cause that's still a good idea, I just wanted to point out a possible cause of your problem

Thank you, I appreciate your help.
The girls have switched to layer feed, New Country Organics wheat free 17 percent protein. Should I soak or ferment it to be more bioavailable?
I give them a handful of dried black soldier fly lavara every day, twice a day (This is a bribe to keep them inside their run while I give them water and refresh their dust bath). They also have free choice access to grit and oyster shells.
Maybe this is the problem? 3 of the 4 have poopy butts. Yesterday I started a five day course of treating them all for worms.

 

[Jadie1]

I thought I had an egg eating issue too so I went through a whole process to set up a roll away nest in my eglu cube. I put a camera in the nest and it turns out the eggs were sticking to my hen’s butt feathers and falling off and breaking open other places in the run- I found out trimming her butt feathers every few months allows us to avoid this issue. I kept the roll away nest after all of the effort we put in. The eggs stay clean and it makes us feel better when going on vacation for a week knowing the eggs are safe and and can’t break or be eaten.

My husband and I started by building a single ramp with 2x4s I had lying around and used the plasticky fabric (easy to clean) from an old piece of patio furniture. The fabric was stapled to the wood. The girls liked that fine, but I wanted to improve the set up so I could use the egg door instead of having to collect at the back of the coop with the big hatch.

After a lot of googling, I found a couple of roll away nest inserts (Eton rollaway nest inserts from Tanner Trading in the uk) that would work for the dimensions of the eglu nest area. I needed a way to stabilize the inserts and keep the eggs hidden. After a lot more googling- I used the google shopping feature that allowed me to type specific dimensions of the product I was looking for- I found one option (doesn't appear it's available anymore, from Walmart), a Tupperware container that had roughly the dimensions I needed (10.5"x7") to fill the middle space between the nest inserts. I used some small plastic cups to prop up the end of the nest inserts, added astro turf pads (cut to size), and had to cut bits of the Tupperware container (with a jigsaw) to make everything fit and stay in place. I think someone more handy than me could build something nice out of wood and make everything fit better than I did but I am not that handy and I liked the idea of keeping on the plastic theme so everything would be just as easy to clean as the rest of the coop. I've also added a 'curtain' hung in between the two nests (using a couple of command hooks and an old fabric napkin) which has allowed the girls to use both spaces at the same time without fighting.

Cuts I made to the Tupperware container. The sloped sides of the eglu nesting area made the top and bottom cuts necessary.

Here's how I attached the cups and astro turf to the inserts. The hardware is a U-shaped piece with two small bolts that screw on to it.

One thing I’m thinking of changing- the Astro turf nest pads. The girls scratch it up- which is fine, but lots of small bits of the fake grass come off and it’s a pain to collect and make sure it goes in the trash not the compost. When cleaning, it’s impossible to find and collect the bits that come off while I’m spraying it down- so I just don’t like that I’m adding to the microplastics that are out in the world (my yard in this case).

Has anyone used the prepped out biodegradable nest pads in roll away nests? It seems like they will prevent the egg from rolling once my chickens scratch and fluff them up, but I've been considering trying them out.

 

[Bawkbok]

We also have a cube. I've been thinking on how I can divide the layer space into two so your post is perfect timing - -what a creative design idea. Thanks for sharing. The photos are great.

I may have created a different monster as I removed the layer divider wall some time ago due to the extreme heat and humidity to allow for more air flow at night and all three of the pullets sleep in the layer and not on the roost. I suspect they prefer the cushiness of the layer vs the hard plastic of the rungs. Now I need to reinstall the divider wall as they should be approaching laying and I'm concerned they will all pile in there to sleep and cause injury. If I close the layer door at night, this prevents someone from laying overnight. Like I said, I created a different problem.