How many nest boxes do they *really* need?

[Northwest_Wannabe]

I've been thinking about this lately. You always hear that everyone has that one nestbox that everybody likes to lay in, our Ladies pick one and there's a second that's a broodies like to go in, otherwise out of our nine nest boxes, seven go unused.

My question is, in the future if I were to build a new chicken coop, would having just one or two nest boxes work? Or do they need to have the "options" even if they don't choose to ever lay in them?

 

[black_cat]

It depends on the number of chickens that you intend to house- for example, 20 chickens couldn't use two nesting boxes, and you'd have eggs all over the floor. I think that stretching it, you need one box per four or five hens, but I think that one box per three hens is better.

 

[BDutch]

I have 2 nest boxes for 7 hens. And this time of the year an average 5 eggs a day. They use both boxes now. I don’t find eggs scattered around the coop/run or elsewhere.

Imo it depends more on how many eggs a day you get, then the number of chickens.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

One box per four laying hens is the typical recommend. But like so many rules of thumb, there's some flexibility in that figure. I also see one per five very frequently, but chicken math being what it is, better to recommend and build 1 per 4, thinks I, so if the flock should "swell" a bit, you aren't rebuilding or tacking on.

/edit for what its worth, my old run had 7 boxes and was designed for 30 birds. The new run adds four more boxes (need to buy at least one more) and I'm approaching 50 birds, with the expected hatching middle of the coming week.

 

[Mamatomany123]

I have 6 for 14 chickens. They rotate where they lay. Sometimes I'll have an egg in every box and sometimes they will all be in 1 box.

 

[CluckerFamily]

I have 16 hens, all of different ages. I have 3 nesting boxes and 1 goes unused.
I use to have 6 nesting boxes but three always went unused so I removed the three that weren’t used.
A side note is that all my hens are different ages, if I had 16 pullets, I would add some more nesting boxes that could be removed later since pullets would lay almost ever day.

 

[Ryguy3684]

I have 4 nests for 12 hens. I built the fourth after seeing one pacing with a hen in each box. There's never been an egg laid in the new box.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I have 8 hens who all use 1 box. But, every once in a while, there will be a line to use that box, and I'll find an egg in one of the other boxes.

 

[TOR]

4 for 16 hens is what i have

 

[bill3607]

I have 5 for 17 pullets. Sometimes only 4 boxes get used but mostly all 5. I could probably use more. I do get some at times on the coop floor usually in a corner under the nesting boxes since I have my boxes inside the coop but raised about 2 feet off the floor suspended under the pop trays. However, I have caught them laying in this spot on the floor at times while all the boxes were empty, so I wonder if I build more if they would still lay on the floor and I think probably so.