The Very Best Rollaway, Roller Egg Nest Box allow fresh eggs to roll out into a covered collection box providing peck free, cleaner, less damaged eggs.
Considering all the cost and time to produce fresh eggs finding them broken or half-eaten is very frustrating. These USA made rollaway chicken nest boxes are really worth the upfront investment and should last a lifetime.
Unlike some other metal nest boxes on the market, these nest boxes are built very heavy duty containing no plastic parts to become brittle and break off over time.
With a slightly slanted floor in the bottom of the nesting box, the eggs gently roll out forward, or in one particular model, forward or back into a protective collection tray.
Many have made wooden rollaway nest boxes for years, and there was once a company making these types of nest boxes commercially in the early 1900s.
Old Vintage Rollaway Nest Box Used To Pattern New Amish Nest Boxes |
These are Amish USA made rollaway nesting boxes totally made out of heavy duty galvanized metal that can be power washed and disinfected should you ever have a poultry disease outbreak. They also require no straw or other nesting materials that may harbor mites and other insects.
When the Amish find a great product and then it becomes no longer available they will begin to reproduce it for the Amish communities. Today many of the old time products like these nest boxes are still being made and used in the Amish communities. Cottage Craft Works specializes in traveling the back roads discovering these types of all American made quality old-fashioned products to bring them to the general marketplace.
These Amish made nesting boxes were first discovered by the folks over at Cottage Craft Works in 2006. They were the first company to bring them to the general market in their unique back-to-basics general store. They offer different styles and sizes for almost any size of flock for the backyard hobbyist homestead to the small commercial egg producers.
The original rollaway nest boxes have the green roost with divided boxes. They are available in a two-hole, four hole and an eight hole model. Each compartment hole will accommodate 5-6 hens.
The eggs drop down onto a wire mesh screen to roll forward. The mesh is large enough to allow the chicken poop to pass on through to a pullout tray underneath for easy and quick cleaning.
Cottage Craft Works Four Compartment Rollaway Nest Box |
Easy Access Egg Collection Tray |
Amish Rollaway Nest Box In Use For Over 20 Years |
In 2011 the folks at Cottage Craft Works discovered another Amish company making a similar rollaway nest box . They were the first company to bring the Community Rollaway Nest Boxes to the general marketplace. These nest boxes were rather intriguing to them because they offered a wide open concept without dividers.
Community 48" Rollaway Nest Box |
The Community Rollaway Nest Box Large Collection Tray |
The Amish builder designed these smaller nest boxes from the large commercial open nest boxes where the chicken enters divided curtains to lay their eggs. What really caught their attention was that the wide open community concept was able to accommodate more than double the number of chickens in the same size of the 4 compartment boxes.
The Community style also has a larger egg tray to hold the additional eggs. The community style does use laying mats for the eggs to drop and roll on which will need to be cleaned. Extra mats are available with the boxes to have them to switch out.
One big advantage of the Community design is that they are reversible. Meaning you have the flexibility to set them up for 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.
The Community boxes also have solid metal backs so they can be set up in rows in the middle of a coop.
Both styles of 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 and have been one of their best-selling line of products. People have come back to purchase more of the same style so it becomes a Ford or Chevy discussion when asked which one is the best over the other.
The customer service at Cottage Craft Works is great to discuss the pro and cons of each based on your specific coop setup.
Cottage Craft Works, www.cottagecraftworks.com 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.