Are my nesting boxes too small?

[akamom0714]

How big should nesting boxes be? Someone built my coop for me and I love it but have made some modifications to the roosting area. I intend to make the nesting boxes accessible from the outside. However I have been wondering if I should also make them larger. This is a picture of the nesting boxes before I brought the chickies home.

 

[Ridgerunner]

What chickens will you have? There is a world of difference in size between a tiny D'uccle versus a huge Jersey Giant. Are you going to have bantams or full-sized fowl? What breeds?

What are the inside dimensions of those nests in inches or centimeters? Width, depth, and height? What kind of bedding will you put in it as that can affect available height?

A generic guideline you often see on here is 12" x 12" x12" minimum (30cm x 30cm x 30cm). That will work well for most chickens but like any guideline it is more than you need for many and not quite enough for a very few.

 

[akamom0714]

What chickens will you have? There is a world of difference in size between a tiny D'uccle versus a huge Jersey Giant. Are you going to have bantams or full-sized fowl? What breeds?

What are the inside dimensions of those nests in inches or centimeters? Width, depth, and height? What kind of bedding will you put in it as that can affect available height?

A generic guideline you often see on here is 12" x 12" x12" minimum (30cm x 30cm x 30cm). That will work well for most chickens but like any guideline it is more than you need for many and not quite enough for a very few.

I'm not sure what kind of chickens I have. I'm trying to find out so that I can provide them with the best care possible. They are a verity of breeds. 5 in total are hopefully pullets. I also have one naked neck roo who just started crowing this morning.
I'm not sure the exact dimensions but from your recommendation they are definitely was to small. Thank you I will start planning to renovate them ASAP. My girls are not laying yet but 3 of them will be very soon.

 

[SamLockwood]

How big should nesting boxes be? Someone built my coop for me and I love it but have made some modifications to the roosting area. I intend to make the nesting boxes accessible from the outside. However I have been wondering if I should also make them larger. This is a picture of the nesting boxes before I brought the chickies home.

Dimensions would help, but they need enough room they can move around a bit in them: enough that they can turn around comfortably. Always err on the side of making them bigger. I had a mix-up with the carpenter on the larger of my two coops & the nest boxes ended up being double-sized. The girls just double, triple, or some times quadruple up in the same box.

Mine prefer hay or straw nest box bedding: they make nests out of it.

If you're going to make them accessible to the outside (which is a good idea), must make sure the latching system is secure. I use some simple hasps with a carabiner to lock them on each nesting box door. If you go with one big door for all the boxes, make sure the latches are no more than 12" apart, especially if the door material is relatively thin. You never want to be able to get your fingertips in a door and be able to pry a gap in the door that's even 1" wide.

Also, when it comes to nesting box doors put them on the "wall" of the box and not the "roof". Movement above them triggers an instinctive flight response. You will freak your hens out when you open the box to collect eggs, possibly getting a face-full of panicked chicken.

 

[aart]

They look big enough, front to back and side to side...
....but.....

Dimensions would help

 

[akamom0714]

They look big enough, front to back and side to side...
....but.....

Yeah they are only like 4 inches tall, I think I have an idea for fixing it

 

[Sefirothe]

Chickens need to be able to stand up in the nest box to actually physically lay the egg.

 

[avjudge]

How big should nesting boxes be? . . . This is a picture of the nesting boxes before I brought the chickies home.

Those vertical dividers look like maybe 2x8s? In which case they are definitely too short.

But that is a guess and as others have also said we can only answer your question if we know the actual dimensions.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

I agree with what has been said. If the nesting boxes are only four inches in height, then chickens are not going to be fitting in there and laying eggs. Keep in mind that a female chicken goes into a slanted body position when she is actually laying the egg, half-sitting and half-standing, so the top of the nesting box needs to be taller than her head.

I use straw in my nesting boxes because it provides better airflow, but personally I think hay would be a good option too, even though it is more expensive. But keep in mind that some hens just do not want to lay their eggs on anything comfortable apparently, and if they do not want to then let them. The hens in one of my flocks used to completely pull their straw out of their nesting box when they were pullets, and they still to this day make nests in the straw but they leave the bottom completely bare of straw so they are sitting on cold, hard wood. Sometimes I will never understand chickens but they are funny with their preferences.

I'm not sure what kind of chickens I have.

Post pictures of them here so we can identify them. However, you should automatically be able to tell the difference of a bantam versus a large fowl. A large fowl chicken can be any chicken that is the "normal" size that you first think about the "average" chicken being, and anything larger than that. A bantam will be typically 1/2, 1/3 or 1/4 smaller than that.

 

[akamom0714]

I agree with what has been said. If the nesting boxes are only four inches in height, then chickens are not going to be fitting in there and laying eggs. Keep in mind that a female chicken goes into a slanted body position when she is actually laying the egg, half-sitting and half-standing, so the top of the nesting box needs to be taller than her head.

I use straw in my nesting boxes because it provides better airflow, but personally I think hay would be a good option too, even though it is more expensive. But keep in mind that some hens just do not want to lay their eggs on anything comfortable apparently, and if they do not want to then let them. The hens in one of my flocks used to completely pull their straw out of their nesting box when they were pullets, and they still to this day make nests in the straw but they leave the bottom completely bare of straw so they are sitting on cold, hard wood. Sometimes I will never understand chickens but they are funny with their preferences.


Post pictures of them here so we can identify them. However, you should automatically be able to tell the difference of a bantam versus a large fowl. A large fowl chicken can be any chicken that is the "normal" size that you first think about the "average" chicken being, and anything larger than that. A bantam will be typically 1/2, 1/3 or 1/4 smaller than that.

These are my feather babies I know they are all mix, one is silky and my roo is a turken. The blue one and the speckled one are in multiple pics. I have a total of 6 birds right now but want to get a few more silkies.