On a personal compound you can meet a diverse bird. But the most popular of them will be laying hens. The number of goals can be very different. They are kept in cages or in spacious houses, the dimensions of which are determined by the number of bird heads. No more than four laying hens are planned per square meter of floor space.
Bird conditions
With floor maintenance, it is necessary to prepare a specially equipped spacious room. It necessarily contains nests at the rate of one for five goals. If they are absent, illegible birds will choose places for laying eggs on their own where they like. Dietary products will have to be collected throughout the chicken coop. In this case, contamination and damage to the shell of the eggs are not excluded.
Design solutions for the device nests for laying hens with their own hands can be very different. Owners of poultry solve this problem in ways convenient for them. But at the same time, one should not forget that any, even the most complex, design should be comfortable and light, it is imperative to take into account the size of the bird.
Using ready-made receptacles for nests
Amateur poultry farmers can use a variety of materials for equipping the house. As nests for laying hens, you can adapt baskets, ordinary boxes, wooden and plastic boxes. They must be clean and not damaged. The size of the nest for laying hens has the following parameters:
- depth - 30-40 cm;
- width - 30 cm;
- height - 30 cm.
Select a container of the appropriate size.
It is filled with straw, hay or sawdust and placed in secluded places of 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 construction is short-lived. Most often it is used as a temporary option. More practical are specially made nests for laying hens with their own hands. The following materials will be required:
Let's make a simple model shown in the drawing.
It provides for the implementation of both a single cell and an entire section. A drawing of a nest for a laying hen has information on the dimensions of the structure. The length, depth and width of one box is thirty centimeters.
Facets of appropriate size are cut from plywood or boards. They are treated with sandpaper. They are interconnected by nails. At the bottom of the box, a ten centimeter wide bar is attached.
For small rooms will be convenient multi-section design. In the manufacture of the lower and upper parts of the nest for chickens with their own hands, their sizes are determined by the number of cells. In order to calculate them, it is enough to multiply the length of the base of the box by the number of sections. In this case, the dimensions of the side faces remain unchanged.
Assembly of the box is carried out similarly to a single section. The lower bar is attached to the entire length of the structure. If necessary, it can be performed in multi-tiered execution. In this case, the sections are arranged in the form of a whatnot. 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 chicken to easily enter the multi-sectional nest. At the bottom of each cell is laid flooring.
Frame models of boxes for laying hens
There are many options for making bird nests. One of them is the wireframe way of making a box. A feature of this method is the manufacture of a frame for attaching the bottom, top and sides of the box, which allows to increase the rigidity of the structure. The frame is made of wooden blocks, the length of which is forty centimeters. Two identical structures are fastened with nails in the form of squares. Boards are beaten to them, with which they draw up the bottom, back wall, ceiling and sides of the box. The bottom of the front of the nest is studded with a horizontal bar, the width of which is from ten to twenty centimeters.
Tricky Perches for Poultry
Open poultry box designs do not preclude egg contamination and shell damage. Making nests for laying hens with their own hands, amateur poultry farmers use small tricks to protect the dietary product from spoilage. As confirmation, we can consider a more complex design of the socket. The multi-section model is implemented as a three- or four-tier bookcase. The lower section is raised above the floor surface at a distance of fifty centimeters. A feature of this design is the inclined surface 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 tray on the back. 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 facilitate the maintenance and care of the bird.
Nest placement
The poultry house is equipped taking into account the physiological characteristics of the bird. Each host chooses a nest 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 house.
How to make a chicken nest to be comfortable? Nests should be located in remote, darkened corners of the house, ensuring the solitude of the bird. In order for the chickens to get accustomed and accustomed to the equipped room, the installation is carried out before the laying of eggs. It is undesirable to place the nests directly on the floor of the house. They are placed on supports or shelves at a distance of thirty or fifty centimeters from its surface. A large number of laying hens are provided with multi-sectional multi-tiered family nests. This design is quite practical in small coops.
Boxes of any design are filled with hay, straw or sawdust. This material should be well dried. Do not use prefabricated or wet flooring. It is periodically changed, thereby ensuring the purity of the nest.