heyyyyyy.....we're building a chicken coop, right? well see now, one of my relatives has decided that he's gonna go to an auction to check out some nest boxes that they are selling. i woke up this morning and was informed of this. now we don't know what type of diseases the previous chickens had, or if they had those disgusting blood sucking mites, or what have you. i said this and was told that we might not even get the boxes, it depends on what size they are. would you buy these, and if so how would you go about cleaning/disinfecting them? they are already at the auction...*sigh*

-- C (punk_chicadee@yahoo.com), April 20, 2002

Answers

Heck yeah! If they were in good shape and large enough for my chickens, I'd buy them in a heartbeat! It's always good to save moey whenever you can. If they're metal, clean them with bleach water, or lysol, or whatever. If they're wood - clean then thoroughly with lysol, then let them dry in the sun.

-- Cheryl in KS (klingonbunny@planetkc.com), April 20, 2002.

When we moved on our place 15 years ago I was even smart enough to clean the nest boxes beyond sweeping out the cob webs and dirt. Never lost a chicken to disease and they have plenty of dirt to dust in.

-- Nancy (nannyb@huntel.net), April 20, 2002.

That should have said "not even smart enough"!

-- Nancy (nannyb@huntel.net), April 20, 2002.

Yep, we bought some used metal ones and they work great. The chickens started using them right away. Animals are not picky. I doesn't have to be pretty to work.

-- Joanie (ber-gust@prodigy.net), April 20, 2002.

You can use bleach water on the wooden ones also. Let sit in the sun a few days to dry out. I do it all the time with my wooden nest boxes for my rabbits.

-- tracy (murfette@stargate.net), April 20, 2002.

Milk crates work great as do old dresser drawers that you have lying around in the cellar or attic :-) The girls are not picky, but the nesting material should be clean: wood shavings, hay or straw or leaves.

-- Cheri in NY (t.asprion@worldnet.att.net), April 20, 2002.

In a heartbeat! Never, ever, buy new! Laughing.

-- Judy (JMcFerrin@ aol.com), April 20, 2002.

I wish I could find some at an auction. No matter what they are made of bleach them and them rinse them with vinager. Let them dry in the sunshine.

Over on the singletree forum, someone suggested using 5 gallon buckets as nest boxes. I'm going to try that and the milk creates.

Susan

-- Susan in MN (nanaboo@paulbunyan.net), April 20, 2002.