Community nest box

I believe my next box would be considered communal it is 3'x12"x12" (approximate). Don't know how it'll work cause I do't have any chicks yet, but it is what I'm gonna run with I might need a little lip to keep the stuffings in, but that is an easy add on.... to the honey-do list O

 

Ours is a community box the size of 3 nest boxes. There is a small divider with a U shaped door way to make a slightly single box incase anyone just has to sit. Otherwise they all share and it works well for us.

 

We have five hens that had the run of 8 nest boxes; we saw we did not need all them. Closed 4 and they have access to 4, nine times out of ten they lay in one box. Every now and then we find a stray, but it is always in the same stray nest. So, and I am no eggspert, but I think one large box would be hunky dory.

 

I choose to do a community nesting box and IMO it's the only way to go. I have one mothering hen that will sit on the eggs all day long. This is fantastic if you have any hens that tend to be egg-eaters. Because of a box with no dividers she is able to move the eggs into a pile. I have found her sitting on as many as 7-8 eggs at one time.

I have 11 hens. The nesting box is 48"x14".

 

yep,mine is a community nest box [if click on 'my coop' will see the outside of the coop/run],it came with partitions but the cochins had all grown up very close and they showed which option they clearly prefered,out the partitions came.
use a nestbox which always has the option of partitions being slid back in if the chickens ever prefer being seperate.

 

I have noticed that my girl's tend to take turns laying their eggs in the same box. We have two next boxes, but they tend to only use one.

 

Mine all lay in the same box so I can't see any reason why a communal box would work, in fact I may take the dividers out of mine and see what happens, I wonder if it would stop the hen that stands there singing the egg song till she it is her turn.