How tall should my nesting boxes be from the ground?

[Shadrach]

I encourage the hens here to sit in their flock coops. It saves so many integration problems and often means the chicks get added security from the flock because mum will try to move about with her group. It has also meant here that the chicks hear other chicken voices while they are in their shells. The coops here re off the ground but the nest boxes are on the floor of the coop. this allows the mother to get her chicks out and about at will when they've hatched. I've had mothers kill their own chicks, but I have never had chicks attacked by other hens, or roosters; told off once they are old enough sure but nothing more.

 

[WVduckchick]

Most of my nest boxes stick out from the side of the coop, but I built a couple of these last year because I didn't have room for the typical nest boxes. They use both top and bottom, but seem to prefer the top box.
I'll still find the occasional egg inside the coop too though.

 

[mowin]

You can always use ramps. Use a hinge or slot to fold/remove them to make cleaning the coop easier.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Mine are 3" off the floor (and level with the bedding). I like that the chickens can just walk in and out of them. They're internal so they eat up floor space but that was calculated into the coop size.

 

[aart]

My coop will be 6x4 and 4 feet tall, I will have 7 chickens, so SQ feet is very important to me. I think if I go 12 inches, that will be safe enough for my heavier birds, but high enough not to remove to much SQ feet. Thank you for your info.

Go bigger! Seriously, that may be too small for 7 large birds...and 4' is hard to fit everything else in there.
Can depend on your climate and what kind of run you will have.

Tips on coop design in my signature.

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[Fatherdowling]

Go bigger! Seriously, that may be too small for 7 large birds...and 4' is hard to fit everything else in there.
Can depend on your climate and what kind of run you will have.

Tips on coop design in my signature.

Welcome to BYC!
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, (laptop version shown), then it's always there!
View attachment 1716592

I am from central Oregon, we have moderate winters with average temperatures around 40 degrees in January and February. We get very little snow, but lots of rain in the winter time. Summer is our dry season, no rain between June and August.

My run is 15 feet by 10 feet with a 6.5 foot ceiling. I also decided to build a 6x5 foot coop with 5 foot ceiling that down slopes to 4 feet.

 

[wolfinator]

My coop will be 6x4 and 4 feet tall, I will have 7 chickens, so SQ feet is very important to me. I think if I go 12 inches, that will be safe enough for my heavier birds, but high enough not to remove to much SQ feet. Thank you for your info.

I have to agree with aart, your coop may be too small for 7 chickens. If you have bantams, it may be adequate but standard breeds need a minimum 2-3 sqft per chicken plus room for food, water, and nesting boxes. A 4x6 coop is 24 sqft but then you subtract the depth of the walls. How big is your run? Is it incorporated into the coop or attached? I currently have a 12X10 coop with 8 ft walls and a center height of 9 ft. My feeders are hung from the center support and I have a raised platform on which I placed cinder blocks (I use a heat base in winter) for the waterer. Their nesting boxes are from floor level to about 3 ft high off the floor. I'm getting ready to change out their roosting bars to ones that will expand the 10 ft wall placed at 18", 36" and 54" off the floor although 1/3 of mine prefer roosting on the floor. I house 35 standard hens, 2 bantam hens, 6 standard roosters and 3 ducks in there. Mine have a pen that is approximately 30' X 50' plus they get to fully free range at times (depending on my schedule and weather). Mine minimally need 95 sqft of coop space but they have approximately 115 sqft usable floor space.

My coop n pen (taken last year) - photo below. The small coop on the left was moved later to behind the coop. My ducks like laying their eggs in it and they often sleep in there instead of the main coop. The section of coop with the window is a 6X10 storage room and nursery or healing room when needed.

The buildings in the back were some my prior coops. I had 6 coops and 3 pens and had the one pictured built last fall for all my chickens and ducks.

 

[Fatherdowling]

I have to agree with aart, your coop may be too small for 7 chickens. If you have bantams, it may be adequate but standard breeds need a minimum 2-3 sqft per chicken plus room for food, water, and nesting boxes. A 4x6 coop is 24 sqft but then you subtract the depth of the walls. How big is your run? Is it incorporated into the coop or attached? I currently have a 12X10 coop with 8 ft walls and a center height of 9 ft. My feeders are hung from the center support and I have a raised platform on which I placed cinder blocks (I use a heat base in winter) for the waterer. Their nesting boxes are from floor level to about 3 ft high off the floor. I'm getting ready to change out their roosting bars to ones that will expand the 10 ft wall placed at 18", 36" and 54" off the floor although 1/3 of mine prefer roosting on the floor. I house 35 standard hens, 2 bantam hens, 6 standard roosters and 3 ducks in there. Mine have a pen that is approximately 30' X 50' plus they get to fully free range at times (depending on my schedule and weather). Mine minimally need 95 sqft of coop space but they have approximately 115 sqft usable floor space.

My coop n pen (taken last year) - photo below. The small coop on the left was moved later to behind the coop. My ducks like laying their eggs in it and they often sleep in there instead of the main coop. The section of coop with the window is a 6X10 storage room and nursery or healing room when needed.
View attachment 1719731

The buildings in the back were some my prior coops. I had 6 coops and 3 pens and had the one pictured built last fall for all my chickens and ducks.

I decided to go with a coop roughly 6x6 interior, with a 5 foot roof down sloping to around 4 feet. I now have 9 chicks, and when you factor in 3 sg ft per bird, that's 27 sg ft, with my coop being 36 Sq ft that leaves me lots of room.

My run is attached to my coop, and it is 15x10. I also have 3 ducks, 2 mallards and 1 caiuga, so 12 birds in my 150 sg ft run. My ducks will have the own coop for safety at night, so no lost Sq ft in my chicken coop. Thank you for your info, I really appreciate it.

 

[Herb in PA]

I have my lower nesting boxes about 14" off the floor. Just high enough so I can get a bag/bale of wood shavings under it. My girls generally use the upper boxes. It is critical that the nesting box be in the darkest corner of the coop. I have mine on the east wall of the coop, since the sun shines in a south facing window, and lights up the west side of the coop. Also, it is best to have the perches at least 6" above the nesting boxes. When I first built the coop, the perches were to low, and 1 or 2 girls would sleep in the nesting boxes.

 

[starri33]

I'm in process of compiling coop plans and what I have read has been nesting boxes 18"-24" off ground, I suppose that it depends and I am interested to hear others opinions.

Our's are 24 to 36 inches off the ground, getting older, the back won't take bending all that much.. The girls seem to be doing fine.