nesting box design

I'm new to the chicken world and wondering how important sides and a roof on the nesting boxes are. Right now they are just open boxes and I have my Polish sleeping in there. She hasn't started laying but wondering if the design is too comfortable. They have 1 side b/c they bump up to the frame of the coop but the other side and top is open to the rest of the coop area. Does it make a big difference?

thanks for your help!

for our nesting box each box is 1ft by 1ft and we have a slanted top to stop them from perching on top. and we have 8 boxes for our 25 hens

I really don't know that it matters but I enclosed mine so the hens could feel a little security when they're at work. The only part open on mine is the front. I get into the boxes from the outside so they have a cubby hole of sorts to hide in.

I have 4 nest and so far they have used 3 of them.

Our rooster decided he should start nesting on the sides of our nest boxes (leaving all sorts of poo in the nests the next morning). Fixed that! Went to Wally World, and got four plastic bins with lids. Just the big cheap ones. Screwed them down, popped the lids on them, filled them with bedding and the girls l-o-v-e them! NO more poop in the nestboxes, the girls feel secure--so secure, they tend to hang out in them now-- and the rooster is roosting with his hens like he should. Plus, periodically, we can unscrew the nestboxes and spray them out with a water hose to clean them.

I don't think it matters too much to the hens what you use, just as long as it's comfortable and they can feel very safe and secure.

I wondered about the same so I build my best with removable partitions. After running experiments on various sizes, it appears that they prefer snug-fitting nests. So I am going with 12x12 with walls.

When they get the urge, they will deliver regardless.

Thanks for all the great advice. Sounds like a snug, cave like space makes them feel most comfortable so that's what they will get.

Was there a way also to fix it so that they don't eat the eggs? We have a couple of hens who do that....

And photos would be great to see also!

(Sorry to butt in on your thread but it's a great one!)

To answer your question, no it really doesn't matter. Chickens will lay in just about anything, including everywhere but the place you would like them to. So have fun with it!!!

There are many, many, many different styles and types of nest boxes. There is a member here who built a nest box where the egg rolls out the back of the nest box when the hen stands up, and is waiting for you in a little tray at the back of the box. If it were not so stupid cold here (-30f), I wold build one, that would be a really fun project.

I designed mine based on the enclosure theory. They like to be in a little cubby instinctually. Mine is in the wall, and.... Ohh heck here is a couple of pictures, way easier 1000 word thingy...

The sliding door was my wife's idea. Our coop is built inside our barn (old tack room). The sliding door holds the access panels closed during the day so the girls don't knock it open, at night we put a bar across to hold the door from being slid open and it also holds the access panel closed. Chickens can't get out, critters can't get in. We have 26 hens.

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I agree.

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Here is a pic of my movable nesting boxes. I can move them when and where I want. The day after making these for the girls, I found 9 eggs in one nesting box. They love the dark, cave-like atmosphere.