Nest boxes

[madmantrapper]

I am planning on making the nest boxes 12" wide and 16" tall. I figure I can get 24 nest on a wall 4' x 8', 8 wide 3 high. Does this sound reasonable? I am planning on the inside being only 4 feet tall. Do you think the chickens can get in the top boxes easy enough? I am planning on the coop being elevated 3 feet or so with a ramp to the ground. I am thinking of letting them free range unless I have too much trouble with the fox and coon. I'm not going to have 24 chickens I don't think so some of the nest box area might be wasted space. How much room do I need inside the coop for each bird? I figuring maybe 12 birds. It getts pretty cold around here in the winter, how much ventilation area would I need? I raise pigeons with very large averys, is this suitable for chickens?

I'm sure I will have more questions.

Thanks
Paul

 

[Barry]

You want 12 chickens? All hens?
They will lay in a nest with eggs from other hens, so 24 nest boxes would be a real waste of space. 5 or 6 would be more than sufficient but in case
you add to your flock later...make 9 or 12.

 

[madmantrapper]

Thanks for the info. Is 12" deep good for nest boxes?

 

[happyhensny]

I have all LARGE breed birds. Brahmas, Orpingtons, RIR, BR, etc. My nests ended up being 16" square so they would have enough room to walk around and not step on the eggs, which can lead to egg eating, which is why I made NEW nest boxes that are BIG!!! Also, I currently have 11 hens, 4 boxes, they lay in 2 of them!

 

[madmantrapper]

So you are saying your nest boxes are 16 x 16 x 16, correct? That seems very large.

 

[madmantrapper]

ttt

 

[CityChook]

Your birds will end up sharing boxes so don't waste your space. I'd gauge for 1 box per 4 birds or so. And yes, if you're getting large breeds, make the box 16x16. Just in case two of them want to get in there together. I've seen it happen...

 

[bawkbawkbawk]

I just read something about this in a book - it said that for large breed chickens you want the nest boxes to be 16x16

 

[madmantrapper]

I have Columbian Rocks, are they considered a large breed?

 

[Mahonri]

I wish I would have made all of mine 12 X 12 X 12.... with a smaller opening.