can you have too many nesting boxes?

[hleone]

we have three hens that we got from a farm 1 week ago. they are 2.5 years old. we put 3 nesting boxes into our coop. should we close up 2 of them? ive read you only need 1 box per 3 birds.one of the hens has been sitting in the boxes today but no eggs.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

we have three hens that we got from a farm 1 week ago. they are 2.5 years old. we put 3 nesting boxes into our coop. should we close up 2 of them? ive read you only need 1 box per 3 birds.one of the hens has been sitting in the boxes today but no eggs.

No need to close up any "extra" nests - with birds that have just been moved (stress) and are 2.5 years of age, a bit of lag time before you start seeing eggs is to be expected. The recommendation of one nest for every 3-4 birds is a minimum recommendation, not a limit.

 

[hleone]

great thank you just want to help them out and make them as comfy as possible!

 

[TalkALittle]

Once they have begun laying you might notice that they prefer to all use the same one or two boxes. At that point, if that third box is taking up room in the coop you can remove it.