Nest box question

[Wise Woman]

I have been keeping chickens for 10 years now and I have always pondered this. We generally keep 12 to 18 chickens and have always had 6 nest boxes. They use 2. It never fails. They also climb in them together even though there are 5 empty ones. When I go to gather eggs, inevitably they are all in just one or two nest boxes. So now that we are trying to finalize our new coop plans I got to thinking. One, do you really need so many nest boxes and two, do you really need dividers between them? We will be building a 6x6 coop and it will have exterior nest boxes along one wall. We were going to put in 4 nest boxes that are 15x15. But then my husband said why bother putting in dividers, just make one long box. However, I have never seen this done so I am wondering would it work? Is there a specific reason that there are dividers between nest boxes? If they are going to squish themselves two at a time into one, perhaps I should just let it all open. Or maybe they are too big and should be 12" wide by 15" deep. Any suggestions? It isn't easy trying to outfox a chicken.

 

[TN_BIRD]

Given your history, I'd probably build a couple larger sized nest boxes and make the dividers removable.

Something tells me that they'll get used to whatever you decide.

 

[Ridgerunner]

What you are talking about is a community nest box. There are lots of different designs and such, but the basic concept is to make it long and wide enough for them to be able to move around in it to find a place to lay. Some will block off entrances and pathways if they can. Many are covered and pretty dark with an openings on each end. But you'll find that a whole lot of different things work for nests. The limitations are in our minds more than the chickens.

I think this thread might have some community nest boxes in it. If you have abroody, dividers are probably a good idea. Other than that, they are probably not all that important.

Nesting Boxes
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=41108

 

[7L Farm]

I have 11 laying chickens & they lay eggs in 5 boxes everyday.