Rollaway Nest Box Colony 24

Rollaway egg nesting boxes are specially designed to allow eggs to roll forward into an upfront holding tray to keep them safe from chickens stepping on or pecking at them. The community open concept patterned from large commercial operations has the traditional dividers removed with outside curtains providing the look of separation. The community concept handles more hens than a standard divided compartment nest box. 

When the chicken lays her egg they roll down a PVC coated heavy gauge 1/2” x 1/2” wire mesh floor to the front of the nesting box. 

This mesh allows the eggs to roll forward into a protective compartment while allowing the manure to fall through to a manure collection pan keeping the eggs as clean as possible. This is a huge advantage to those nesting boxes that rely on laying mats that collect both the eggs and dropped manure together on the same surface. 

Manure cleanout is a breeze, especially on the outside rear collection. You can roll a wheelbarrow right up to the box and pull out the manure tray just under the egg collection tray and dump without ever having to reach in or disturb the layers.

To collect the eggs simply lift the front cover and the eggs will be all lined up for a clean simple collection without having to disturb nesting hens.

Colony Nesting boxes are simple to install and provide many superior benefits over wooden nesting boxes. Open backs hang on two supplied hanging cleats that are screwed into the wall. Simply lift off to remove and power wash. To use as a rear collection the nest boxes are hung backward on the outside of a wall over a cutout hole allowing the open back to then become the entry for the curtains to hang on. The roost bar is reversed to mount on the new front. When the rear collection is selected using the drop-down box we supply a hinged door to cover the one front side and roost bars to attach the roost on the new front side. Selecting the rear option using the drop-down box will reflect the incremental price increase for these extra parts.

Using the nest box as a rear collection takes up zero space inside the coop and the taller opening created by the slant of the top allows for larger breed birds. 

Nesting boxes come with a training egg. These nesting boxes require no other nesting material as it will inhibit the eggs from rolling forward. This makes these boxes easy to keep clean and reduces the risk of infestation. If needed, to begin with, you may use regular amounts of nesting material and then gradually reduce as the chickens become trained.

Roost bars may be lifted up to discourage entry when needed. When set as a rear collection you will be able to reach through the hinged door to lift the roost from the outside.

Colony Rollaway Egg Nesting Boxes do not have plastic lids or trays to break as others on the market do, they are also made of heavy 26 and 16-gauge galvanized metal. The 26 gauge is used on the main horizontal structure and the 16 gauge is used for some of the ends and cross members for extra strength. Others in the market use thinner gauge metals.

Nest box front collection is 8” tall x 24” wide at the entrance point. The rear collection option using the taller slanted roof is 14” tall. The inside compartment measures 14" tall x 24" wide x 11-1/2” deep. The 24” nest model measures overall 24-1/2” wide x 20” tall x 17” deep.

The Colony Nest Boxes also ship flat to save on shipping costs and will come completely unassembled like a large erector set. The next boxes assemble using 3/16 and 1/4 bolts. Instructions are the same as the divided boxes so the assembler will need to focus on just the pertinent parts (less the dividers) at hand. Click Here for assembly instructions. On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the most difficult they will rate between 9-10. People who are mechanically inclined who can visualize from the pictures and the limited assembly drawings seem to do well. Those who need detailed step-by-step instructions will likely struggle without some help. It will be good to have a second set of hands to hold the longer parts as they are being bolted together. Metal edges may be sharp, and gloves should be worn. You will need a flat head screwdriver, adjustable wrench, or wrenches for the nuts and a hammer to attach the caps on the lid hinge bar.

The Amish shop uses an old-fashioned UPS paper system without electronic tracking. We will give you a general idea of the ship date and you should receive the order within 10 days. We can manually have it tracked if needed. This system has worked very well with hundreds of these nesting boxes being shipped.

What is the difference between the Colony and Community Rollaway Nest Boxes? Both are exceptional community open concept nest boxes providing exceptional commercial duty long-term performance. You will need to decide which one best fits your needs and budget.

They are just made by two different Amish companies who have different approaches to building rollaway nest boxes.

The Community Nest Boxes use a laying mat for the eggs to drop and roll on. These mats will also collect a buildup of manure and must be cleaned or changed regularly. Extra mats are available for change out. The Community Nest Boxes have an advantage of a closed-back that can be sat in the middle of a coop or screwed directly to a wall. The collection tray is a bit larger to hold more eggs between collections and it can be mounted front or back for a rear or front collection option.

The Community nest boxes ship flat in a unique way so that they can lift out of the box and have the ends assembled rather quickly. Click Here to see all of our rollaway nest boxes including the Community Nest Boxes.

The Colony Nest Boxes are made by the same Amish shop that makes our 2, 4, and 8 compartments divided rollaway nest boxes that we have sold for over a decade. They use a bit thicker galvanized metal on the important horizontal cross members and brackets.

Our cost is also a bit less on the Colony so that we can pass that savings on to the customers.

The Colony Nest Boxes have a PVC coated wire mesh floor with a slide-out manure tray underneath so that the manure falls clear of the egg collection. The wire mesh is set on a slope with some curvature to give it a spring soft landing for the eggs to drop and roll on. The Colony Nest Boxes have open backs that slide over removable wall cleats and will need to be hung on a solid surface either inside the coop for a front entry or outside the coop for rear entry access. The nest boxes can be mounted back to back sandwiched with a board between for center aisle use in large commercial coops.