After seeing nesting boxes for sale on the corner on and off for months (we are in the country), I finally broke down, stopped, and bought a two seater from the nice gentleman selling. It is a vintage nest box, bordering on antique, but I was having trouble formulating my own plans and I had a moment of weakness. The man assured me that even large breed birds would be able to fit in the boxes, but when I got it home and measured it I was unsure. The recommended size for large breeds is 12x14x12. These boxes were 9x13x10. Um.

I figured out that I could make more room by dropping down the front panel a couple inches. I drilled out the rivets and scrubbed the box with bleach soft scrub (who knows how many chickens used this before!!) The boxes were designed to have an egg portal in the back for collecting. In my coop this isn’t practical, but the wire bottoms are extremely sturdy, so I scrubbed them too.

Taking apart the box revealed that there was more rust. After the box dried, I used cold galvanizing spray to give the whole thing a coat of protectant. Most paint will not stick to galvanized metal, but this seems to have done the trick. I also gave the wire bottoms a coat of black rust stopping paint.

Even though the front edge is rolled to provide purchase for chicken feet, I still felt I needed a landing spot about 8” out from the box. I put 1” x 3/4” strips on the inside and outside of each of the three sides. The outer strips were longer to hold a dowel. These strips also helped stabilize the bottom of the box, and serve as support for the wire bottom in its new position.

Riveting the front panel back on was simple, but I did need my husband’s help on the final squeeze to break off the rivet wire. The riveter is definitely made for larger, stronger hands.

In the coop, I found that the nesting boxes could hang well on an upside down garden tool rack attached to the stud. I put in a couple more screws just for security.

The perch to get onto the boxes is below the level of the roost, I put straw in each box and a little DE and dried lavender, and the opening is a little larger than it was before. So we’ll see if they use the boxes… in three months or so.