Homestead Essentials 3 Compartment, Forward Rollout & Rollaway, Hen & Chicken Nesting Box with Integrated Perch and Protective Egg Laying Collection Lids

Okay..in the title I buried the lead! The plastics slid in trays that lock into place when assembled are FLEXIBLE! They hold up in -20F without getting brittle and shattering! This is the weakness in almost EVERY NESTING BOX!The Nesting Box itself is made of a sturdy gauge (21g i think…about the same a good steel roofing) GALVANIZED and PAINTED Steel! When you assemble it you realize there are no lock washers and that THIS is BY DESIGN! The flanged nuts locking ribs pressed into the flange that locks against the steel. These will not unscrew or loosen over time with movement and use. Trust me, ‘I’m a Scientist’ I know good quality product when I see it!Frankly after seeing what is available at all the farm stores for MUCH more money I was expecting to return this and end up building my own….The model just like this at (a competitor farm store) went from $89.99 up to $329.99 this last year (Inflation anyone?) so I had low expectations for this affordable model. I was absolutely WRONG!This is great quality at a great price! The only adaptation I made for our coop, since the nesting box is not hung on a wall but set up on a table…was to take 1/2” OSB and make a 19-1/2” x 32” backing board, drill six holes in the back flanges of the metal dividers and affix it with 3/4” wood screws for a back board that is tall enough to hold the entire nest up at the perfect egg rolling angle. It took less than 10 minutes and cost $4.00 worth of OSB that I had on hand. The manufacturer gives you MORE screws and nuts than necessary (Always a bonus!) and provides screw in hooks that you can use to mount this on an inside wall so that the nests point inward on the inside of the enclosure. They thought of absolutely EVERYTHING! Which frankly is a very pleasant surprise with the average manufacturer today. And having a little hardware left over to put in my ‘Spare Nuts &Bolts’ jar is like getting more change than you expected because the item you purchased was on a sale of which you were not aware! It just FEELS better!Today I take this sturdy nesting box out to our 10 chickens for the acid test. I did not buy nesting pads because I have materials on hand…but they NEED nesting pads to keep the eggs uncompromising!The eggs roll forward (in tests) into the front covered bin as expected and there is room for nearly a dozen medium eggs in each nest if you only go out once per day. Your chickens will SHARE the nests! One nest for every four to five chickens is more than adequate. Until now we have used two 3 gallon buckets on a slight tilt for 10 chickens and they have done famously. Chickens are not terribly discerning. They may actually be stupid. But they love this nesting box and make it a bargain that will hold up for many many years!As a sheep farmer I buy tough and expect every investment to last 20 years. So cheapest is not always the first choice. With recent hyper inflation and the doubling of metal next boxes this last year I think this may be the best, most affordable and functional offering at this price point on the market.From me…VERY HIGH PRAISE INDEED!Week After Update: We are getting TWICE as many EGGS since installing this new nesting box! I think in the old standard ‘bucket and board’ nesting boxes the chickens were eating some of the eggs. Now they CAN’T! YEAH! I like eggs!

The instructions are diabolical. We googled and found a video on youtube that I suggest you watch before you take the product out of the box. The internal metal edges will cut you. The external are rolled slightly, so they are fine. It's a great product once it's assembled, the sharp edges won't get to your birds once in place. I installed mine into an old rabbit hutch, so it's up off the floor and has a back to it. I placed wooden eggs on the back ledge as a marker for the birds and then filled the compartments with edible fresh greens to get them in there. So far, so good.

My chickens have a tendency to eat there eggs even with food and oyster shells in the house so I found these nest boxes that allows the egg once its laid to roll in a protected area that the chickens cant get to. It also keeps the eggs much cleaner for harvest. I don't have to wash the eggs nearly as much and with the holds in the bottom it makes the nest boxes easier to wash out and keep clean. Works great love this thing. When you install it though you have to make sure that there is enough slope on the bottom to make sure the egg rolls but not so much that they will brake.

My rooster started eating eggs so I separated him from my flock Apparently he had show the girls the delights of their own eggs Got this and the problem stopped Worth every penny

I was really having problems with my chickens eating their eggs I was running out of options. I almost was going to have them for dinner. However I took one shot at these nesting boxes and my problem was solved the chicken started laying in the boxes and the eggs rolled right down into the safe place and now we are collecting more eggs than we have in a long time. I highly recommend this product