Will 10" wide work? I have black sex links and barred rocks. I can make them as deep or high as necessary, but given the spot they need to be I kind of have to make 3 - 10" wide or be stuck with only two nest boxes for 16 hens. What do you think? If they are only 10" wide how tall and deep should they be?
I don't know for sure, because I have no chickens right now, but I read somewhere they should be at least 12".
I have read you need one nest box per four birds. I wouldn't think that 10" is too small. I have two share my 12"ers sometimes.
I think 10" wide is enough. I'd probably go 14" to 16" deep, just to give a bit more room. As far as height, I's suggest a 5" to 6" lip across the bottom to hold in the bedding and the eggs, then a 8" high opening to let the hen get in. Depending on how you frame them, you may need to make the height a bit more. Here is a post by Digits from another thread that might help you. I think he gave credit to Robert Plamondon for it. "The traditional community nest is a box four feet wide and two feet deep, with a doorway thats not much more than six inches wide and eight inches tall (and maybe with a flap of cloth or plastic across it). This is good for fifty hens. Another variant is the tunnel nest, which is eight feet long, two feet wide, and has a small entrance at each end. This is good for a hundred hens." From your description of the area, I'd suggest you consider a community nest box. Make it the full 30" wide with an entry hole maybe 6" wide and 8" tall on each end. Make it maybe 24" deep so one can walk past another that is laying. You'd need to hinge the top so you can lift it up to get the eggs. Or maybe hinge the front. This way you could build two of them if you felt a need, one on top of the other. Another option may be to build 4 nests, each one 15" wide. Have two levels, one above the other. You might need to put a perch in front of the higher nests to give them a place to land before they enter.
