How many roosts/nests do I need

[Koekoek]

I've just started keeping chickens and learning a lot as I go.
One of the things I'd like to ask advice on is how many nests or roosts I need for my flock which now consists of a rooster and about eight hens.

My Black Australorp hen has laid one egg so far, which she laid on a pile of rubbish in the coop (the coop at the moment is an old 3 car garage, which I thought would make a perfect temporary coop because of the space inside and big windows to let air and light in).

There was some plastic sheeting in the one corner and I suppose she thought this was a nice soft spot to lay her egg.

Since then I added an Orpington hen to the flock and on the same day bought a large wooden house which I filled with straw for the chickens to lay their eggs in.
The Orpington went inside immediately and laid an egg.
Since then she has been laying an egg a day inside the house - what is the proper name for it - henhouse/roost/nest! - but I haven't noticed any other of the chickens using it.
I was wondering if each bird would need their own private nest or if they would share one?
Am I correct in thinking that they do not sleep in them at all unless sitting on eggs as I see all of them perching on top of the house as it starts to get late?

Today my rooster (a Black Australorp) was
mating with the Black Australorp hen.
I would love to get some little Australorp chicks and was wondering then if a breeding hen would need a separate nestbox - surely if not she would end up sitting on a whole lot of other hens infertile eggs?
I'm not sure how that works either - if the rooster is seen mating with one hen does that mean he is mating with all of them and everyones eggs will be fertile?

I'm just starting to learn now how little I know about chickens - and I'm realizing that even though I breed finches and know a lot about that, it's not very helpful when it comes to chickens.
Thanks goodness for this site and the people here so willing to share their experience and knowledge!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I’ll attempt a few of these.

A general rule of thumb is that you need one nest for every four hens, so for eight hens, two would be enough. An extra one would not be bad, especially since it sounds like you might expand, but two should be enough for now.

As for the roosts, I like to give them a little extra room. They don’t take up a lot of room when they are on the roost, but they need extra room to get up there since they normally spread their wings and fly up. Also, they can be a bit mean to each other on the roost. A little extra room allows them to get away from a bully if they need to. Mine like to spread out in the summer but will sleep pretty close together in the winter. You can probably get by with 9” per chicken, but I generally shoot for 12”.

Chickens generally like to sleep on the highest place they can get to so your roosts need to be higher than the nests. You really don’t want them sleeping in the nests because they poop a lot at night. You don’t want poopy eggs.

A rooster will mate with any hen in the flock. Her eggs will remain fertile for about two weeks after a mating. Part of a rooster’s duties are to see that all the eggs are fertile, so yes, if he is mating with one hen he is almost certainly mating with all of them.

There are a lot of different opinions on here about how to handle a broody hen. That’s when a hen stops laying eggs and decides to hatch eggs. Some people totally isolate a hen when she is hatching eggs, while some of us let her hatch with the flock. There is no right or wrong way about that, just the way we decide to do it.

My test for when a hen is truly broody enough to be worthy of eggs is that she has to spend two consecutive nights on the nest instead of roosting in her favorite spot. Collect all the eggs you want her to hatch and start them at the same time. If other hens can get to her nest, they just might lay eggs, so you need to mark the hatching eggs and check under her daily to remove any new eggs.

A broody hen will set on her eggs, any other chicken’s eggs, duck eggs, turkey eggs, golf balls, or just her imagination.

 

[Koekoek]

Thanks Ridgerunner, that answers a lot of my questions really well.
I loved the last sentence about hens sitting on golf balls and even their imagination

I will get another nestbox to make it 3 so that I have an extra to offer some more choice and because I will most likely expand the flock.
Speaking of that, will the established hens accept any new hens introduced to the flock?

I didn't even think about providing the chickens with proper roosts - at the moment they're just roosting on top of the nestbox, which is quite big at least and gives them more than enough room.
I've seen people using perches in their coops.
The only problem with putting them high is that the pet store I bought my Australorp pair from had clipped their wings.
I've read that it's better to leave them as it can help them escape predators but unfortunately they had already done it - they told me it was necessary to stop them flying over my properties fence.
I was thinking of cutting a big branch and fixing it from the ground up to a higher point so my 'flight impaired' pair can climb their way up.