nesting box size

[chickly]

I have 7 new hens that came to me already laying but I am not finding many eggs in the nesting boxes. I think the nesting boxes in my coop look a bit small for the hens. We made them according to specs we found online before we had chickens but now that I see them and the size of the full-grown hens they look pretty small. Could this be part of the problem with getting the hens to lay in the nesting boxes instead of wherever in the yard or fields that they might be leaving them? How fussy are hens about the boxes and what do they like best? (I want my girls to have delightful accommodations so I'm willing to do some remodeling!)

 

[bassfishrman]

I have 6 large nesting boxes and 4 small ones. All of my hens but one lay in the smaller ones. The small ones are 12x10 inches. My RIR's barely fit in them, but they prefer them. From my experience, my hens gravitate to the nesting boxes that are in the darkest part of the coop. Privacy seems to be important to them.

 

[helmstead]

All of my boxes are 12"x12". You could also try milk crates, I think they're a bit bigger...

My hens are standard Barred Rocks...not huge but not small, and they all use the boxes (finally).