how many nesting boxes and perches ???......

[Johnpm72]

hi, i newbie chicken guy and i love this site !!! very , very helpful. my question is, I am in the process of building a coop for my 12 new girls. I'm not sure how many nesting boxes i will need and how long or how many perches or roosts there should be. thanks for all you help..... john

 

[ChuckenGirl]

uhm well i think the general rule of thumb is a nest box for each bird and maybe 3 or 4 roost will do.. but i'll leave this up to another more experienced "chickener" oh and

 

[Colored Egg Farmer]

for my 500 chickens i have 30 feet of roosts from the floor to about 5-6 feet at an angle and about 10 nexting boxes with 15-30 holes.

 

[ChuckenGirl]

500 chickens!?
thats alot of chickens and feed for them!
im jealous...

 

[Colored Egg Farmer]

O sorry forgot my 50 byc too

 

[Jolyn]

I think for 12 birds four nests would be enough. Not sure about the roosts though.

 

[McGoo]

Typically a foot of length on the roost for each bird. The best roost is one made with a 2 x 4 and sanded so the edges aren't square. If you need to have more than one roost, make sure that they are the same height. This is important because of pecking order, etc. Also make sure that the roost is at least a foot from the wall.

As for nesting boxes, it's typically 1 box for 3 or 4 hens. They take turns.

There are a number of good resources... if you go to the 'learning center' on this site, you'll see all about coops. Also some good books....

All the best.

 

[Johnpm72]

thanks allot...ill post pics of the coop when its finished

 

[Davaroo]

What McGoo said