How many nest boxes do we really need?

[ernndbrtt]

My wife and I are having a bit of a debate as to how many nest boxes we need for our 16 Buff Orpington hens? She purchased 50 quart plastic storage tubs, these things are huge! I built a shelf for 6 of them and they take up way too much space in our coop and severley limit my options for where I can put them in the coop as well. We ended up with day old chicks instead of started pullets so I do have a bit of time to figure this out before the hens will go to the coop. My wife got the plastic bins for ease of cleaning which I agree with, but the size and amount of them needed is where our dilemma comes from.

So if I make 12" X 12" or 14" x 14" nest boxes, how many should I put in there? Or just stay with the large 50 quart bins and only use 3-4 of them?

 

[sonew123]

Youll notice the hens will pick a favorite box...dont be surprised if they only use 2-3 of them...they will wait in line or pile on eachother to lay in that same darn box! You could have 10 like me...2 gets used..I have 20 hens in that pen! I bought the 10 hole metal nesting box set up...I use 6 of those spots to keep things in! Lol go with 2-3 at most...and if you bought straight run chicks...count on 1/2 being roos! And if thats the case 2 boxes is all you need...

 

[Fred's Hens]

I just scrap together 16x16x16 boxes out of old USB/plywood. I do put a 3-4" lip on the front to aid in keeping the bedding in the box. One box for every 4 layers is just fine, and even that is a bit overkill, but a good place to start. I also find it much easier to "train" young pullets to lay in the box if it isn't mounted high. Their instincts seem to be the ground level. I just work with that instinct, not against it, by forcing them to grasp a concept of laying in nests 3-4 feet off the ground. Hope that makes sense.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I can't argue with either Fred or Sonew.

I don't know the physical size of those 50 quart bins you have. It depends on their depth, but they could be maybe 24" to 36" long and maybe 16" or so wide, just to get an idea. Those are more like "community " nest boxes than individual nests so the same rules don't apply. One or two would probably be enough for 16 hens, though I usually go for overkill and would use an extra if they are more like 24" than 36" long. I like having a spare in case of a broody or if something else comes up.

You might want to take those back and get some smaller ones. I'd use 12" as the minimum dimension for width or length, with bigger certainly OK. Like Fred, I made mine 16" x 16" x 16". I have found as many as three hens pile in mine laying at the same time, though they usually lay individually. I like the extra room for them but a 12" x 12" is big enough. If you go with individual boxes instead of those huge "community" boxes, four is a good number for 16 hens.

I think its Joel Salatin that uses community nest boxes in his operations. He says you can get a huge number of hens in one of his. I don't remember the numbers exactly but I want to say close to 50 hens in a 24" x 36" community box. I'm sure my numbers are wrong since I'm going by memory, but the number is surprising.

 

[ernndbrtt]

The totes we have are 24" x 16" x 10". I think we'll go with four just to be on the safe side. Supposedly all our chicks were sexed and we're SUPPOSED to have 16 hens and one rooster. But then again, we were supposed to get started pullets not day old chicks

 

[chooniecat]

I currently have 25 layers and had wonderful luck using the plastic colored "milk" crates (purchased some, found others in someones trash) from wallyworld $4 each. Had 4 up between the THEN 16 layers and recently switched to an old armoire I found in someones trash and just put 3 shelves in it, blocked the front of shelf with 3" wood strips had laying around so the shelves would hold straw. Appx.3' wide,2' deep, 5' tall so it , in theory, should hold appx. 12 hens at a time BUT they like to load into second shelf up and argue. The rest have taken to laying their eggs in corner straw on floor(fine with me also!!) POINT being the milk crates hung on wall worked great at keeping girls seperated and even then they occassionally sat on one another even when other nests open.