Brooder box

[frugal farmer]

Hello I have 14 adult hens ranging in age from 1 year to 3 and 4 bantam hens that were given to me and somebody else has 10-12 more they want to give to me and start fresh. I made a brooder box out of an old filing cabinet and it has 8 "nests" in it. My question is this, with the addition of another 10-12 birds will this be enough boxes? I've seen a rule of thumb is 1 box to three birds but only a handful of these birds are going to be under 2 years old so not prime laying age.

 

[Judy]

Actually, the rule of thumb I usually see is one per four hens. However, I agree, they just don't use that many. They have favorites and leave the other boxes empty. They will even decide to use a corner for a week or two and ignore the nests, or most of them, entirely.

I've always been able to scrounge something for a nest without spending money. I happen to have 5 nests for 14 birds at the moment, because the nests have stayed through ups and downs in the number of birds. They usually use two. That is a common sort of ratio I see described here.

 

[frugal farmer]

So I should be good then after I get those other 10-12? That would be 28-30 hens 8 boxes

 

[BantamLover21]

Glad you joined us!

I think you'll have enough nest boxes. The general rule of thumb is 1 nest for every 4 hens. Your possible 30 hens divided by 4 nest boxes each equals a little more than 8 nests. So you do have enough.

 

[Wyandottes7]

Welcome to BYC!

We're glad to have you.

I agree, you should have enough nest boxes.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC!

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

I feel that sometimes you can NEVER have enough boxes! There is always a broody or two hogging up boxes sometime during the year. I use 1 box for every 3 birds. Any less and you may have waiting lines, arguing and if there are more than one broody, there goes 2 available boxes. So if you go with the 1 box per 4 hens, be prepared with more boxes.

Good luck with your flock and welcome to ours!

 

[frugal farmer]

Couple more questions. How do I make a new post about something different than this thread and what are these

 

[TwoCrows]

If you want to post in another area of the forums, like to identify these birds, you would click on that Forum tab at the top of this page. Then click on the button under the heading What Breed and Gender that says Start a New Thread and you can post this question there...https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/threads/add/forumId/15

 

[frugal farmer]

Ok! Thank you I got it