Do laying hens use more than one nest box?

[Pequena Bandada]

Egg math may help you figure out how many pullets you have laying. Chickens lay eggs every 24 - 30 hours, so only one per day. If you got more than one egg today, you can be fairly certain more than one chicken is laying!

 

[craftymama86]

Haha, funny. Mine is laying in the 2 bottom boxes next to the door.

So far only one in a day. We've caught Moody in the act so we know for sure she's one laying, lol. I guess if we catch another in the act we'll know, lol. Especially if there are 2 eggs in a day.

 

[VA Lady]

One of your girls looks exactly like mine! She is the best layer of the bunch. An egg everyday without fail and they are always a good size (even though she's the smallest). She even had one that was a double yolk - it was huge!

I only have 3 hens so only 2 nest boxes. They all insist on using the same nest box though. Doesn't matter if they have to stand there and wait on one of the others, it has to be that box for some reason! lol

 

[sheila3935]

I have 5 nesting boxes for my now laying 9 hens they use 2 once in a while 3

 

[craftymama86]

Quote:
She's very pretty. Where yours has white or cream though mine has a dark green. Hmmm, did her tail feathers show in the pic? LOL. I'll have to look.


That's funny, like a bunch of women waiting to use one bathroom stall, LOL.

 

[Myabcs3]

23 girls to 9 nesting boxes. Only 3 boxes are used consistently. There is a fourth that is used occassionally in case of an "emergency" - i.e. when the other girls are not leaving the nests soon enough. There is constant ruckus in the henhouse first thing in the morning as the ladies are discussing who gets the favored nesting boxes. If you dally too long in the coop to put down new straw or clean up the boxes, they start clucking at you as they think you are butting in line!

Not quite for sure why we went through the time of building so many boxes...but you know how chicken math works!

 

[PetRock]

We have 7 girls and 3 nest boxes. All 3 get used almost every day but the 2 boxes closest to the door are the preferred ones. Our girls are pretty polite about waiting their turns and we have only once seen 2 in a box together. We could get by with only 2 boxes but we were planning ahead for next spring's round of chicken math!

 

[cottage19]

I have given up trying to figure out the laying pattern. On Monday I found 5 eggs in one box and 2 others on the floor. Today the girls used 3 of the 4 nests and someone used the litter box on the floor...Every morning is different - it's part of their charm...

 

[VA Lady]

Quote:
She's very pretty. Where yours has white or cream though mine has a dark green. Hmmm, did her tail feathers show in the pic? LOL. I'll have to look.


That's funny, like a bunch of women waiting to use one bathroom stall, LOL.

Now that you've said something I've looked back and can just see a little of the dark green - that's very pretty!

They are like very silly about waiting but on the plus side at least they stick to using the nest box!

 

[craftymama86]

Thank you, she is pretty.

I can't wait to see our chicks when they get older. Some are really light colored, some are a little darker and one is really dark compared to the others.

We also have a couple of BR's. They don't look the same though, plus the tail feathers are different. One has tail feathers that kinda hang and are shaped different... Weird... Oh that reminds me, I need to post on another subject, lol.