How Many GA Chickens Can Fit in 1 Nest Box?

[tlcmurphy]

I made a lot of mistakes in my coop before I found BYC too! My worst one was I had a great big window next to the roost on the WINDWARD side of the coop! It's a wonder my poor chickens even survived until I fixed that! And nearly as bad: that was practically the only source of "ventilation" in the coop, which means NO ventilation, as there was no cross-draft to get air moving - until this past summer when I hired a guy to cut windows on the opposite side, higher up. My coop was an oven before that! smh

I hear you, this coop also has little ventilation but luckily the chickens are smarter than me and sleep in the covered run in good weather (Protected). I’ve made so many mistakes I’m lucky we still have birds

 

[Chicken_Obsesser]

Getting down to 17 here tonight, my girls are NOT AMUSED!
I’m LMAO View attachment 4031919View attachment 4031920This is how they plan to sleep. The big girls have trained the littles to sleep in the boxes

Lol that's my chickens right now they're all smushing together on a single roost.

 

[BDutch]

I hear you, this coop also has little ventilation but luckily the chickens are smarter than me and sleep in the covered run in good weather (Protected). I’ve made so many mistakes I’m lucky we still have birds

Its obvious to trust the resellers who sell chicken coops if you are new with chickens. Unfortunately most prefabs are crab, especially for people who live in a continental climate with hot summers and cold winters.

Don’t blame yourself for not knowing what chickens need. Ventilation , cold/wet wind direction, and the possibility to adjust are very important as you know now. If a coop gets moist overnight from the chickens, you need to add more (high - opposite) ventilation.

In my prefab coop, I keep the pop door open, but protected the opening from cold winds. And I made several extra holes under the roof with a 10mm drill.

In the meanwhile I would trust the chickens in their choice to keep themselves warm. If the chickens have several choices where to sleep they pick the one thats best for them. A change can get initiated by the weather, indoor climate, pecking order/bullies, an infestation (parasites) or personal preferences.

Only if they have unwanted habits for no reason, or if they make dangerous choices, it’s time to interfere.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I hear you, this coop also has little ventilation but luckily the chickens are smarter than me and sleep in the covered run in good weather (Protected). I’ve made so many mistakes I’m lucky we still have birds

Chickens are survivors. If we can keep them from getting eaten, they seem to do amazingly well - often, it seems, in spite of us!

 

[tlcmurphy]

Based on this morning’s pattern they didn’t all sleep in that box all night. At least 2 of them finally roosted.
Either that or one of my chickens sleep walks…