Chickens lay eggs — this much is true. Chickens also eat eggs — this much is also true. If you want to have chickens, and you want to have eggs, you need to either quickly collect them or prevent the chickens from reaching them. I designed and built a simple plywood nesting box that allows the eggs to roll out of reach of the chickens so you can collect them later.

The nesting box is built entirely out of less than a sheet of plywood, costing about $40 in materials. From start (a single, uncut sheet of plywood) to finish (chickens sitting in the box in their coop), it took me about 90 minutes to build while following my plans.

The idea is simple: roughly cubic nesting areas with a sloped floor (about 9º), and a barrier that prevents the chickens from pecking at their eggs after they’ve rolled away. Add some padding underneath the chickens and against the back wall to prevent eggs from cracking, and you’ve got a recipe for success (and you’ll need recipes for eggs).

Obviously, she loves it.

The eggs don’t always roll directly to the back, but every time a chicken moves around in the nesting area, she’ll push the egg further back until it is eventually unreachable.

If you want a copy of the plans, either leave a comment below or email me at cfinke@gmail.com.