Fowl Stuff's new nest box design came to be out of the frustrations of messy nest boxes. As we've mentioned in past issues, success in business comes from "finding a need, then filling it." John's story is about inspiration and creativity. And when you are done reading, you can order some for yourself! See http://fowlstuff.com/ for ordering details.

If you have a creative enterprise that would benefit other readers, send your story to us today. Email us at .—Ed.

In the last issue of Backyard Poultry Elaine Belanger wrote about farm-related business ventures. The article really caught my attention because my wife, Kathy, and I were very close to marketing a new product that could have been used as an example in the paragraphs Elaine wrote.

I have worked for other businesses and we have had a few of our own with employees, but currently we have a few home-based businesses. Together they provide enough income to keep food on the table. Working from home is great. It's even better to have a business that incorporates your hobby, like my Chick Hatchery. It is a very small hatchery featuring day-old Ameraucana and Chantecler chicks. It isn't much of a money maker, but it pays for itself and I enjoy it. I work at keeping the hatchery small and manageable so that employees aren't needed and the business doesn't run me. Eggs are needed to produce those chicks for the hatchery. The eggs are laid in and collected from nest boxes and a new style nest box is the farm-related product this little story is really about.

I've used the old style galvanized nest box units, made some wooden ones and used 5-gallon plastic pails/buckets with modifications. The pails were mounted horizontally on a wall and lumber was used to create a perch and partial cover for the front while leaving enough room for the hens to enter and exit. I've found that pine shavings worked better than straw for nesting material, but the hens scratched a lot out of the boxes so I reduced the openings to six inches by adding on a "partial cover" board. The hens had no problem getting in and out through the smaller openings and more shavings stayed inside. For several years I planned to someday market plastic brackets that would mount to a wall and support a wooden perch and partial cover in front of a few 5-gallon plastic pails. That someday never came, but I thought about the idea often and made improvements to the design in my mind.

John's inspiration for the new nest box design came from the ever-messy buckets many of us use for nest boxes.

Last year as I was in the barn studying the nest boxes and brainstorming ways to improve them I came up with an all new design. It eliminated the potential problems that I could foresee with marketing the design I'd worked out and improved for years. Sticking with a common 5-gallon plastic pail for the main part of the nest box I realized I could snap a cover on it with an entrance hole and attach a perch to the cover. I made a mockup using a purchased pail cover, some wood and spray paint. At this point Kathy and I had to make some of those serious-type decisions. We could have tried to sell the idea to a manufacturer, but decided that the idea was worth investing into ourselves. Of course we did our homework first. With more people owning backyard flocks we knew there should be an increasing demand for nest boxes. We couldn't find any available with as many benefits as our nest box. Our nest boxes would have to be economical without being cheaply made to have real value. We also wanted them to be "Made in U.S.A."

The mockup was taken to an engineering company that specializes in plastic injection molding. More brainstorming went on over a period of weeks as the designers and I worked out the final design. Instead of one cover part with support arms to attach a wooden perch (like the mockup) we ended up with two plastic pieces that mate together and eliminated the need for a wooden perch. By having a 100% plastic nest box we saw even more benefits to my original design. It is completely recyclable, which sounds great to the "Go Green" crowd. Compared to wood and cardboard boxes our plastic boxes promote animal biosecurity by being moisture resistant and not being a refuge for lice and mites. They are easy to assemble, install, clean and sanitize. Plus, because these nest boxes are individual units they can be mounted in any configuration to fit any coop. We made the opening so that it could easily be modified from 6" to 8" to accommodate extra heavy breeds. Even with all the great design attributes these nest boxes have, Kathy claims the most important point is that the hens love them!

A 3D model was made of the two parts, on a computer, and then a physical prototype was made using Stereolithography (3D printing). Next the big bucks had to be invested into having a mold made. It took longer than the quote said it would, but eventually sample parts were made and then parts to sell. Patience is a virtue that is hard to find at times. Some of this just didn't happen as quickly as we would have liked. Having the parts to sell may seem like the happy ending to the story, but there is much more involved to get any product to market. Cardboard shipping boxes are needed, retailers are needed, advertising is needed and the list goes on. I don't want to make it sound like it wasn't worth it for us, but it may not be for everyone.

Mockup of the new nest box design. Changes were made after John took it to the engineering company, including the decision to make the entire product from plastic making it easier to clean and healthier for the hens.

In Elaine's article she talked about "Your Business Name." I believe it is important that your business name is also your domain name nowadays. Having your domain name registered may be more important than a copyright or registered trademark. If folks do an internet search for your product or business name your website featuring your domain name should pop up. Make them all the same name if possible. I came up with several possible business names and only settled on Fowl Stuff after making sure I could register it as a .com domain name. To date we only feature nest boxes, but someday we may offer other fowl related stuff. We could have used a business name like Poultry Items, but that sounds very dull compared to Fowl Stuff!

John and Kathy Blehm live near Birch Run, Michigan. They have 3 children and 5 really great grandkids. Their home-based businesses include J&K Media, Chick Hatchery, and Fowl Stuff. John has raised chickens for close to 50 years. As a breeder he developed and co-developed many of the varieties of Ameraucana chickens.

John has been a member of the Ameraucana Breeders Club (ABC) for more than 25 years. He offers Ameraucana and Chantecler chicks through his website, www.ChickHatchery.com. He is also active in an annual poultry show held each October. Get details of the Fall Fowl Fest show. For more information visit www.fowlfest.org or contact Assistant Show Superintendent, Matt Boensch: or 989-529-7030.