2 nesting boxes for 8 hens?

[MaLoTu]

Will that be feasible?

 

[Blackberry18]

Two is too little for 8 laying hens. I'd recommend 4 - 6, or more if possible.

 

[chatterbox64]

I have had up to 20 laying hens at one time, and even though we have 10 boxes, they only use 2, sometimes 3 boxes. Ever. They like to lay their eggs in one box. If you are providing the boxes for brooders, you might want 4 boxes, but 2 is more than enough. Enjoy!

 

[MaLoTu]

I read one time that it is like one box per 5 chickens.

I have also been wondering, if there is an egg in the box will a hen still lay another egg? Or do you have to remove the egg before they want to lay more?

 

[chatterbox64]

They will lay eggs in the same box throughout the day. Sometimes our girls line up and start squawking if someone is taking too long, or they will try to sit on top of the girl that is still on the nest. I have morning layers, afternoon layers and one who waits until I have gone inside to lay in the evening. It doesn't matter when I go out to check, she waits until I go back inside and lays her egg.

Enjoy!

 

[aatx]

Here is what I have figured out. No matter what ratio you use, it will always be too few and too many both at the same time. Too few because you'll get upset hens having to wait their turn - too many because they'll insist on only using some of the nest boxes leaving others empty. It won't matter that there are 5 empty nest boxes - all that matters is the nest box they want to use is occupied.

 

[tracecom]

My nine hens have three boxes, and sometimes they are all full. However, they have never laid anywhere but the boxes, so I think three is a good number for my nine...and your eight, but two will suffice.

 

[tracecom]

It's ironic that shortly after I made the previous post, I went to collect eggs and lifted the cover on the nest boxes. There was one hen waiting for one of the boxes to be vacated, and one who couldn't wait, and decided to double bunk. As you can see, the RIR wasn't too happy.