David885
In the Brooder
I was just wondering how many nesting boxes and where to place them in my 120sqft chicken run. I have 8 young hens that will soon be reaching six months old. Should I attach them to the hen house or set them up separately?
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I would put them in the coop, not in the run. Unless your coop and run are one single unit, and the run is completely predator proof. That way, when you shut the birds into the coop at night, they have access to the nest boxes for those early morning eggs. My birds rarely lay early in the morning, but those boxes are always available. I would have at least 2 boxes, even if you have a community box. That way, any "shy girls" still have a place to lay even if the main box is taken up by the bullies.
You only need one box 36" wide, 14" tall and at least 14" deep for 10 hens. They all want to use the same nest box so why bother making them fight. Commercial nest boxes are community type. Just make sure they are 1' or more below the roosts.
JT
You only need one box 36" wide, 14" tall and at least 14" deep for 10 hens. They all want to use the same nest box so why bother making them fight. Commercial nest boxes are community type. Just make sure they are 1' or more below the roosts.
JT
Great advice!
Any suggestions on what to build them from? I’m not a carpenter but I did fabricate the coop and run myself.
Here are my plans for my Roll Out Nest Box Mk3. The top is tapered only to keep the chickens from roosting on it. If yours ends up under the roost a flat roof is the way to go.
I wrote an article on How to Cut Straight (with a circular saw), might be of some help.
JT