Confused Newbie with 2 main questions please.

[NewChickHere]

Hi. I am brand new to chickens. So new I haven't even gotten them yet. We get 27 chicks in one week and we are all so excited and feel ready, pretty much. The brooder is ready but we are building the coop right now. Trying to anyway. lol.

I am a reader/researcher so I LOVE these forums and have gotten so much wonderful information from here. I also have 8 library books and 2 that I have bought. But, with all this information, some confusion can get in as I am noticing peoples opinions and feelings vary a great deal regarding some things for their precious feathery family members. I totally get that and will be that way myself soon. I know some stagger the roost heights while some are against that because it kind of encourages the less popular girls to always have to roost lower and maybe get a complex.

Well, as my husband and I are at the kitchen table right now we are trying to figure out the nest boxes. He has been reading too so we are coming at each other with different view points from what we have heard. haha. He said he heard the nest boxes should be raised and 14x14x14. Now, as much as I agree with giving the girls as much happiness as possible, we are looking at our space available and making sure the roosts are higher than the nest. SO......I have read that we could actually have the bottom 4 nests on the ground and they could be 12x12x12. Which would help tremendously and we could set the roosts at 3' no problem. I know there is a lot of talk about the roost height too, like 3' or 4' or 5'. Some say 5' is great, their ladies love the height, but some say they can break an egg internally jumping down.

I tell you, it's a lot for a new person to take in. lol.

Anyway, I would like to find out the MAJORITY here if possible to 2 main questions. 1)Can we set the nests on the ground no problem and 2) Can we make them 12x12x12? I appreciate everyones thoughts, even if you all feel a bit different. I am just thankful to hear from people doing this already and what the main thoughts are. Thank you and blessings to you all.
Signed, sitting here waiting for your replies.

Kim

 

[SteveBaz]

Can we set the nests on the ground no problem and 2) Can we make them 12x12x12? I appreciate everyone's thoughts, even if you all feel a bit different. I am just thankful to hear from people doing this already and what the main thoughts are. Thank you and blessings to you all.

I would put the nest boxes 3 feet off the ground and 12x16x12. 3 girls can lay in 1 box. You will not believe how the siblings and chick-mates do everything together sleep, lay, play, dig, eat all together. You will love throwing 2 pieces of long spaghetti and having them run all over the place playing hide it and eat it. LOL

 

[CarolJ]

I have ten next boxes in my coop - and they're all 12 x 12 x 12. I have seen two of my full size hens crowd into one of them at times! So the 12-inch boxes are plenty big enough. The only guideline about how high they should be is that the nest boxes should be lower than the roosts. Otherwise, they'll try to roost in the nest boxes. So my nest boxes are at 3 feet & 4 feet - and my roosts are at 5 feet.

 

[SteveBaz]

Can we set the nests on the ground no problem and 2) Can we make them 12x12x12? I appreciate everyone's thoughts, even if you all feel a bit different. I am just thankful to hear from people doing this already and what the main thoughts are. Thank you and blessings to you all.

 

[navychick]

Our nesting boxes are at floor level and we have no problems. You might need to put a board across the front to keep "nesting material" in and litter/sand out though. Here is a link to our coop. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/navychicks-page

 

[Barrdwing]

Our girls are in a tiny ancient barn right now (talk about your ghetto coops--the roof leaks so badly in one area we have a tarp strung underneath the hole). They have two sets of nest boxes: three covered cat litterboxes, and a store-bought set of four attached boxes each 12"X12"X12". The store-bought ones have gotten mixed reviews from the hens. We started out with the cat litterboxes on the floor, but because of the leaky roof I soon had problems with the bedding being constantly wet underneath. So I built a rack out of scrap lumber and raised the litterboxes about six inches off the ground. The hens can hop up into them no problem. They love the litterboxes: I'd say 95% of our eggs are laid in those, and it's not unusual to have one hen peering into a box at a second hen rousing her feathers and cussing a blue streak: "I'm NOT done yet! Get lost!"

The four 12"X12"X12" boxes are up on the second level, about 3 feet off the ground. When spring rolls around the bantams will start using those because they want to go broody and there's less competition up there. But right now I'm having some trouble with the youngest hens sleeping in those boxes. I guess they're high enough, and it's chilly enough, that they look very inviting. Hardly anybody has laid in them for months: once the majority of the flock went on "laycation," the competition for the litterboxes decreased so much that there wasn't any real demand.

One problem that we have had is that we stored our straw on a pallet in the corner with a tarp draped over it. The pallet is raised up on four cinderblocks set on end so that the hens can get in under there and scratch for bugs. Unfortunately some of our free thinkers have decided that it's a great place to hide a nest. So every night we have to get the rake out and poke around under there to fish out a few eggs. That's kind of a pain in the neck. I think next coop we build, I'm going to build them a "tunnel nest" and see what they think of that.

 

[NewChickHere]

Thank you for the compliments and info. We definitely do have the red lamp ready to hang and a thermometer too. We will be have it all done tonight and I'm excited just in case they come early.

@BuffBrahmaBoy-thanks for the info about the towel first. I had read somewhere about putting the shavings down first and then a puppy pad or 2 for that exact reason, and it is suppose to help them find their food real easy those first couple days too. But I like your idea well too. I definitely don't want any of them doing the splits.

So sorry you lost that one.

@AlienChick- I love all your pictures. It looks like you have been very resourceful with items for your chickens. That is what we are needing to do. As for the idea of the hens laying under the coop, no....I don't think I'm particularly fond of the idea of crawling around under there for eggs. Hm? We go the idea because our neighbor has chickens and they are always laying under her car for shade. So I thought using that same "footprint" of the coop for shade would work great without taking up extra space. Well, is there anyway to discourage them from laying under there....or maybe a better question, is there any way of ENCOURAGING them to lay more in the nest boxes? I have heard of golf balls and fake ets eggs. Do those work?

@Judy- I do love looking at the turkeys and we enjoy watching them, but you don't think I need to be concerned about any of their poops or germs everywhere do you, before I put my girls out there?

 

[foxinachickenhouse]

Our nest boxes are about 12 inches up from the floor level, entire coop is raised two feet and I like them being raised just slightly. They can't scratch stuff into the boxes this way, though they try.

We have our coop raised so they can get underneath too and I realized about 3/4 into the building project about the egg under the coop problem. Occasionally it does happen, especially with new layers, and I have to get under there and get the egg. I made one long side of the area into a flap that can be removed. Basically just framed the hardware cloth and attached the frame with wing nuts and carriage bolts. If they lay under there I can remove that panel and get the egg with the help of a rake. It works petty well. I wouldn't change anything. They love having the extra shady space in the summer.

 

[NewChickHere]

Thanks so much for your reply Carol. 12x 12 x12 will def be easier during the building process. So, if I start my bottom row of nest boxes on the ground, I take it that would eliminate the need for a little perch type thing outside it correct? Please forgive me for any ignorant questions. I know the need a little perch thing on the top row tho. Thanks again. I'm so excited for this new adventure and want to do the very best I can for these new girls.

 

[bj taylor]

i need to raise my roost. it is now lower than the nest boxes. i've got a little time (babies should come this wk) to convince hubby.