does every hen need her own nesting box?

[Aacre]

Mine does too. And I've learned in 46 years of marriage the best way to handle him. First, I decide what I want or need, plant the seed in his head, then shut my mouth about it. I let him ponder and stew, and eventually he comes up to me and says, "I was thinking, maybe we should _________." (fill in the blank) I smile my dimpliest (Shut up, spell check, I made that word up) smile at him and say, "Hey, that's a great idea! I'd have never thought of that!"
The second secret is to tell him, "I've been doing a lot of research and this is way cheaper." I have him from the word "cheaper".

I am eee-vile, and must be destroyed!

Noo! That would mean that I have to be destroyed too! I'm not ready to be destroyed! Not until the world is covered in chickens!!

 

[Hillsviewchicks]

Thank u everyone! ! Tons of great advice! !! My big hens all lay in one box and my bannies lay in a different one.

 

[CarolinaHen]

Mine does too. And I've learned in 46 years of marriage the best way to handle him. First, I decide what I want or need, plant the seed in his head, then shut my mouth about it. I let him ponder and stew, and eventually he comes up to me and says, "I was thinking, maybe we should _________." (fill in the blank) I smile my dimpliest (Shut up, spell check, I made that word up) smile at him and say, "Hey, that's a great idea! I'd have never thought of that!"
The second secret is to tell him, "I've been doing a lot of research and this is way cheaper." I have him from the word "cheaper".

I am eee-vile, and must be destroyed!

I've been married long enough to learn this trick as well

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

At least your husband was concerned! Mine will just take my word for it on chicken matters!

It's not concern, lol, it's a never-ending need to be right....and a genetic need to overbuild. Don't get me wrong, TOTALLY appreciate his help with this and willingness not only to have the chickens but do the construction work for me (could do it if I had to - but wouldn't want to take the fun away from him, hahaha) - but this is how my desire for a "simple run in shed" that should have cost *maybe* $500-800 to build ended up being a "hurricane proof"(no kidding - was tested the last day of the build when the remains of Hurricane Ike made it to Indiana) $3,000+ building. I say genetic, because his partner in crime on that was his dad - love them both for it, but ................yeah. Oh well, that overbuild = room to convert to chicken coop

 

[PrairieChickens]

Since so many breeds of hen go broody so rarely, they've developed a sneaky trick to make sure their genetics get passed on to the next generation... They lay where their flockmates lay. If one of her flockmates goes broody and incubates the clutch, her offspring is part of that and her genetics live on, whereas if every hen laid in her own private nesting box, her eggs would never be hatched unless she went broody herself.

 

[PugetCountry]

I have 14 hens and up until a week ago they were all using the same one even though there are 5. Now they are using 3.

 

[CarolinaHen]

Since so many breeds of hen go broody so rarely, they've developed a sneaky trick to make sure their genetics get passed on to the next generation... They lay where their flockmates lay. If one of her flockmates goes broody and incubates the clutch, her offspring is part of that and her genetics live on, whereas if every hen laid in her own private nesting box, her eggs would never be hatched unless she went broody herself.

I never thought about that before!

 

[KayTee]

Even with a choice of 6 nest boxes for my 5 hens, (don't ask - it was never planned that way!) they only ever use one (or at a push two) nests. And the 'favourite' nest changes every few months. I suppose I could fool them into using more nests by leaving fake eggs in a couple of them, but I can't really see the point - they're happy where they're laying, so I leave them to it!

 

[PrairieChickens]

My favorite is when two or more hens pile on top of each other to use the same nest at the same time, meanwhile there's eight empty nests open to them e_e

 

[KayTee]

My favorite is when two or more hens pile on top of each other to use the same nest at the same time, meanwhile there's eight empty nests open to them e_e

That's just so funny to see!