Communal Nest Boxes, Yay or Nay?

[Mrs. K]

hmmm, what is the advantage of a communal nest? I inherited an old coop, had 4 wooden traditional nests, about 10? inches wide, maybe 11 deep, so I always used that.

I have seen old timer nest also about that size. I have seen communal nests, but I didn't like them, I thought you might get a lot of eggs broke.

So I vote single nests.

Mrs K

 

[thecatumbrella]

hmmm, what is the advantage of a communal nest?

The argument I've seen is that chickens will wrestle over a single nest box. Now the nest box is huge, so multiple birds can use it at once.

But I can say, even with my limited knowledge, that this isn't how chickens work. Mine fight over a 6" space on the roost bar. They will absolutely fight over a preferred "side" of the communal nest box.