Honestly, @ninasanchez nailed it, trusting an app over real experience is a fast track to a messed up floor.

Not to stir the pot but I see it different. Hens in the wild don't pick nest sites based on compass directions, they pick what feels safe and hidden from predators. I think there's something else going on here that got overlooked. Maybe the old boxes were too exposed to drafts or maybe they had bad ventilation, not necessarily a north facing issue. Could also be the boxes were too bright or had some other problem and the direction was just coincidence. I've seen people obsess over east facing boxes and their hens still lay in weird spots, so it's not a magic fix. Chickens are creatures of habit but they're also stubborn, they'll pick a spot and stick with it for no reason we can figure. Moved my own boxes around three times before I realized they just wanted a spot with deep enough bedding and a little privacy. Sounds like you had a light issue or a draft more than a direction problem. But hey, if it works for your birds now then I'm glad you got it sorted. Just saying there's usually more than one variable at play with these things.

Wait, you made a robot out of a spark plug? Like an actual moving robot or a little statue thing? Because I'm imagining something with little wire legs and a bottle cap for a head and that's way too specific to not be true. I need to see a picture or something because that sounds incredible. Ugly finds really do turn out to be the best finds, I'm starting to learn. My pile of junk is looking a lot more like art supplies now.

That uncle's story about the three year buildup is exactly the kind of thing that sticks with you. A whole roof gone because nobody wanted to spend a hundred bucks on a cleaning. The photo idea is smart too, people need to see it with their own eyes before they believe how dangerous it can get. I've had a few close calls myself over the years and it never stops being unsettling how quickly things can go wrong.

Yeah man, I was totally the same way. I used to think any map with outdated borders was basically garbage, like why would you keep a map that's technically wrong? Then a buddy gave me a 1950s map of Europe that still showed East Prussia and stuff, and it just clicked for me. Those "mistakes" actually make the map way more valuable because they freeze a specific moment in time, not just the geography but the politics and the way people thought. I still like accurate maps for getting around, but the wrong ones are way more interesting to look at now.