Low Laying/Nesting boxes vs higher ones...opinions

[alogue5173]

When my husband and I built our first coop, we built 4 laying boxes about 3-4 ft. high with ladders and two that were just a few inches off the ground. Of course when the hens started laying they never ever laid in the low boxes and we eventually raised them and they are happy.
We are in the process of building a new pen & coop for an upcoming batch of chicks and since I got so many wonderful coop design ideas from all of you I want to plan this coop out a little better. I think I want to make the laying/nesting boxes low and build a "poop board" over them. Since I don't plan on having any higher boxes and they don't have options, will the hens lay in the low boxes? Opinions and experiences please. Thanks

 

[ailurophile23]

In my experience, given a choice of two stacked rows of boxes, my hens have always used the lower ones. I wouldn't worry about it - as long as they have boxes to lay in, they may prefer one box to another, but the height shouldn't matter.

 

[Barred Rock Caf]

I built my girls' nesting boxes 18" off the floor. I got this dimension from some coop plans that I saw online. No problems so far with the layers. They alternate which of the five available boxes they will lay eggs in. YMMV

Barred Rock Cafe

 

[Framac]

I have stacked milk crates and it really depends on the girls moods. Some days there is 5 eggs in one low box, and 3 eggs in the other 4 combined, the next day, the high right is the favorite. I have even moved them around in the coop, and the girls adjust very quickly .

Framac