Nest size wide enough?

[Yimmij]

Using wood i already had, i Got a 11” wide , 13” Deep, and 14” high at front 24”in back - angled back so they won’t get on top
Question is, will 11” be wide enough
Dual purpose breed like hampbar ( is what local store usually has)

 

[nuthatched]

I'd consider snug but usable

 

[Yimmij]

Thanks for input!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I grew up on a farm where the chickens free ranged. Most laid in the hen house but some would hide nests. Many people would be amazed at some of the tight spaces some of those hens used. Your nest will be plenty wide enough.

 

[Yimmij]

Thank you, nice to use what already have with the price of wood now a days!

 

[LTAY1946]

I'm going to be building nest boxes for some coops that I expect to have brooding hens in. My nest boxes will be patterned after the one posted here. I think I will make them in sets of two boxes and put them in multiple locations in the coop house and let the hens work it out and once I see what they prefer I'll move the units to their liking. We are just now completing a 12x12 1/2' coop house and I have some flex as how to finish the inside.

 

[K0k0shka]

My nest boxes are 12"x12"x12" and I've found three large dual purpose hens stuffed in there together. Chickens are mostly fluff, they compress down quite a bit and can fit in very small spaces. Now I'm thinking I should've made the boxes smaller, so they wouldn't fit more than one chicken, but I know the chickens would've still found a way to cram themselves in there by the multiples. When they have a favorite box, they REALLY have a favorite box!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I typically make mine 16' x 16" x 16". Those dimensions work well when cutting up a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood, no waste. A 12" cube would also work well. It is fairly common to find 3 hens piled into one nest while my other three nests are empty. The popular nest doesn't stay the most popular forever. Sometimes after a week or after a month a different nest will become the popular one. They are not always consistent.

If I have 7 hens laying, I might find four eggs in one nest, two in another nest, and one all by itself. That's not consistent either but kind if typical.

 

[LTAY1946]

I'm off to get a sheet of 1/2" plywood. I was going to use OSB but I can use that on coops. I think it is not as good as sanded plywood. Per next station it is not much more to go with the better wood. I'll use the 16" sizing so they can fit 3 hens in at once. My hens are crazy like me.