# milk crate nest boxes



## birdman21 (Nov 30, 2011)

ok so heres my question, im gonna b flying young birds and old birds out of my new loft. so i settled on having both perches AND nest boxes in both compartments. Has anyone ever used milk crates as nest boxes? Are there any pro or cons. Keep in mind, im not using them to breed, just to give old bird team a place to pair up. Any thoughts? thx


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

I think they can work if you are willing to take them out and spray them off and clean them... they are hard to clean, I tried one and for lack of time, I decided it was too much work to take out a hose off all the time.. it is easier for me to just scrape a wooden surface.


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## birdman21 (Nov 30, 2011)

i was planning on cutting pieces of solid paneling to fit the bottoms to make cleaning easier and so theyre not pooping on each other.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

birdman21 said:


> i was planning on cutting pieces of solid paneling to fit the bottoms to make cleaning easier and so theyre not pooping on each other.


that would work, and the good part is you can take them out a few times a year and clean them all off.. unlike wood fixed box perches.


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## birdman21 (Nov 30, 2011)

o ok i got you! So just make sure i dont permanently screw them down! Lol glad u said something, i didnt think of that and im notorious for going a little crazy with the screw gun! haha!


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## rackerman (Jul 29, 2009)

I use a few milk crates. They do work, but like spirit wings said, they are work to keep clean.


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## wthilgen (Oct 9, 2013)

My loft is actually located inside my house, in Mexico the patios are generally only available from the inside and they are always open to the sky. For security purpose there is bars running across the entire opening and I have placed a chain link fence on top of that to keep cats out. It measure 15 ft. x 15 ft. which works out to be 225 sq. ft. I can house a lot of birds. Especially when you consider my loft is not on the ground.

In addition to the 6 8 ft. high post with perches on four sides one ft higher than the one below it I also have 25 12 quart plastic milk crates. I can double that in the future because I have an additional wall that is blank. I also have a area of roof that slopes so water runs off that measures 20 x 20 for future use. I am using the 12 qt. size because here is a bit more room for the pairs to share. I use a piece of wall panel 1/8 thick cut to size on the bottom which keeps their neighbor clean. For cleaning purpose just pull out scrape wash rinse and put back. I use 1/4' wooden doll rods with a brass cup holder hook in the top placed between the top and bottom of crates which have holes on all sides top and bottom to. Be adding rearranging, adding or subtracting the rods. Gives me control over the goings on of old and young birds.

I placed them originally in a row of five, six high. I mounted 6 2 x 4 ,'s near the tops and bottoms behind the crates and attached them to the wall horizontally slid the stack up against them and putting 3 1/4 x 1 1/2 with a one inch washer in the top back and two in the bottom back attached them to the 2 x 4's. I only did the top five rows. When finished I removed the bottom row. Which frees up floor space for whatever. The top of crates are one and a half ft. from the roof giving them more space.


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## Rafael/PR (Sep 8, 2008)

they work great for me , and if they are pastic they are easy to clean


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