Tag: chicken nest boxes

Budget Friendly Rollaway Chicken Nesting Boxes

USA Amish made heavy duty galvanized metal rollaway chicken nesting boxes utilize clean drop manure tray collection instead of using messy laying mats. Single and double stack models available.

Colony Rollaway Chicken Nesting Boxes Feature:

  • Lower Prices
  • Open community concept boxes to accommodate more hens.
  • 48” Signal and Double Layer Models.
  • Front and Rear Egg Collection Systems.
  • Thicker Gauge Galvanized Metal Parts.
  • Roll forward Protective Egg Collection Trays.
  • Slide out easy clean manure trays, no messy laying mats.
  • Made in America Product Using No Plastic Trays or Parts.
  • Easy Lift Off for Power Washing.

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Colony Rollaway Chicken Nesting Boxes are patterned from the open community concept laying cages used in commercial egg production facilities.

Without having individual divided nest boxes, it was discovered that the boxes handled nearly double the amount of laying hens over a traditional divided nest box.

This provides fewer nest boxes needed and valuable square footage to maintain.  Curtains are used to mimic the look of individual nest boxes, plus they help darken the inside of the box to make the chickens feel comfortable in using them.

Community Rollaway Nesting Boxes were first introduced online by Cottage Craft Works.com.  Since then they became so popular other dealers have branded them as if they were the manufacturer.

The fact is they are made by an Amish company one of only two Amish companies making these heavy galvanized rollaway nest boxes.  Both companies build great performing nest boxes with their own approach to the design and functionality.

The Amish build things to last and feel comfortable to sell them to other Amish communities so these nesting boxes are built extremely well to last for a very long time.

You won’t find plastic trays, end caps, or rails that will eventually become brittle and break like used in some other chicken nesting boxes on the market.

Metal nesting boxes offer superior performance over wooden boxes and if compared to the material cost of the wood and hardware to duplicated them in wood.

The metal construction also provides easy cleaning and disinfection in cases of infestations which just can’t be accomplished with built-in raw wooden boxes.

Maintenance and upkeep of nesting boxes and coops are a very important consideration in investing in the metal nest boxes. Between the Community and Colony Rollaway nest boxes, one important factor should be considered and that is the mundane task of manure clean out.

The Community Rollaway Nest Boxes are built on the concept of using a laying mat inside the box for both the egg and manure to drop on.  Obviously not cleaning the manure out frequent enough will inhibit the rolling of the eggs into the protected compartment not to mention the clean eggs are being subjected to rolling in the manure. Buyers can purchase extra laying mats to switch out while one set is being cleaned.  In time they will need to be replaced.

In a different approach, the Colony Rollaway Nest Boxes use a PVC coated wire mesh floor for the eggs to drop on and roll forward while the manure droppings fall through and collect on a pull-out tray located just under the egg collection box.  The wire mesh is inserted at a slight slope and curvature so that it cushions the eggs and forces them to roll into the protected box.

Manure cleanup is much quicker and easier on the Colony Nest boxes without having to disturb the laying hens or ever reaching inside the nest box.  There’s also no mats to wash out and replace.

Colony nest boxes are available either as a front or rear collection options in 24″, 48″ and a double stack 48″.  The double stack or double layer as it’s called is really the best buy as you would normally have to purchase two of the 48″ Colony or Community boxes for that type of capacity.

Both the Community and Colony Nest Boxes offer a rear egg collection option and are available at www.cottagecraftworks.com

 

Rollaway, Roller Egg Roll Out Best Nest Box

2 Comments

Rollaway best nest box design allows fresh laid chicken eggs to roll forward into a protective collection tray. Get cleaner eggs with less damage, less pecking.

With rising cost of all that it takes to obtain a chicken egg today, it’s very disheartening to find several cracked, broken or eaten from a rogue egg eating chicken.

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Early model of the 8 compartments rollaway nest box

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Four Compartment Rollaway Nest Box

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Egg tray lid lifts up for egg collection

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Eight Compartment Rollaway Nest Box

The concept of a slanted floor in a nesting box for eggs to roll forward into a protective collection tray is not new.  Many have made wooden rollaway nest boxes for years

What is different in these Amish made rollaway nesting boxes is that they are totally made out of heavy duty galvanized metal that can be power washed and disinfected should you ever have a poultry disease outbreak.

The proven design provides just enough slant for the eggs to roll forward with the least damage possible.  The Amish have figured this out and have been quietly making these wonderful proven nest boxes for decades.

At one time a commercial company actually made a galvanized metal rollaway nesting box and for whatever the reason they never survived.  Probably at the time marketing would have only been available in farm magazines.

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Original Vintage Commercial Rollaway Nest Box

When the Amish get a hold of a good product and it then becomes no longer available they will begin to reproduce it on their own.  Today many of the old time products are still being made and used in the Amish communities.

These newer nesting boxes were discovered by the folks over at Cottage Craft Works in 2007 during a product tour deep within the Amish communities and then began to offered them to the general back to basics homesteader and backyard egg producers.

The original rollaway nest boxes have the green roost with divided boxes. They are available in a two-hole, four hole and eight hole model.  Each compartment will accommodate 5-6 hens.

The eggs drop down on a plastic coated wire mesh screen with a poop tray underneath for easy and quick cleaning.

In 2011 while on another product tour, the folks at Cottage Craft Works discovered another Amish company making a similar rollaway nest box but with a wide open concept without dividers. This is the same concept used in commercial nest boxes where the chicken enters divided curtains to lay their eggs.

This wide open community concept accommodates more chickens in the size of the 4 compartment boxes. The 48” Community Rollaway nest box will accommodate up to 45 hens although some producers are reporting numbers that double that amount.

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Community Rollaway Nest Box Accommodates More Chickens

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The Community Rollaway Nest Box Egg Tray Holds More Eggs

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Aside from the open concept, the Community style has a larger egg tray to hold the additional eggs and uses a laying mat for the eggs to drop and roll on.

The Community is also reversible to either a front or rear collection tray.  Using the rear collection tray makes them very handy to use in small hard to access chicken coops or when you don’t really want to disturb the chickens during egg collections after dark.

Both styles nesting boxes have the roost hinged to lift up to access the egg tray but to also block off the entry to the nest boxes when needed.

Both styles of the rollaway nest boxes are available to purchase online at Cottage Craft Works.com

Cottage Craft Works is a back-to-basics general store providing old-fashioned products of value and functionality for today’s homestead hobby farm.  Many of the products are made for non-electric off-grid homesteading.