Nesting Box Opening

[camkim]

Hi Yall,

I have 2 sexlink and 1 Barred Rock. They are currenly 4 weeks old. I just built my nesting box, but realized the opening is only 7 inches wide by 10 inch height. Inside the box is 12x12x12 inch. Is the opening big enough for the chickens to enter with out injuring themselves? Also should i remove the nesting box until they are ready to lay eggs?

Thanks for your comments.

 

[cameronfarm]

Hi Yall,

I have 2 sexlink and 1 Barred Rock. They are currenly 4 weeks old. I just built my nesting box, but realized the opening is only 7 inches wide by 10 inch height. Inside the box is 12x12x12 inch. Is the opening big enough for the chickens to enter with out injuring themselves? Also should i remove the nesting box until they are ready to lay eggs?

Thanks for your comments.

The whole thing seems too small to me. I think mine is 15" deep x 15" wide by 17" tall with a 15" x 15" opening and 2" lip. Fits one full size bird comfortably.

 

[Ridgerunner]

That is a plenty big enough opening. I used an 8” wide and 6” high once when I was in a bind and it worked.

You’ll get different opinions about when to open them. I’ve got a mixed age flock so mine are always open. But when I started this flock, I opening them from the start. I’ll leave it to others to explain why they suggest waiting until they are laying to open them. I’ll just give you my thought process. I do keep fake eggs (I use golf balls) in the nest all the time to indicate to then where I want them to lay.

I’ve had pullets start to lay at 16 weeks. That’s pretty rare for me but it’s possible. I’ve also had pullets wait until they were 9 months old to start. Personally I can’t pinpoint exactly when a pullet will start so I cannot time opening the nest to her first egg.

When a pullet first starts to lay, she might just drop her first few eggs about anywhere, from the roost or while walking around the coop or run. Most seem to have control from the start though. Chickens are creatures of habit. Once they get control of laying an egg, they usually want to lay in the same place every time. I prefer that first time to be in the nest where I want them to lay.

Another reason to me to have the nests open before they start to lay is that they often will explore the nests and scratch around in there before they start. If they are going to scratch the bedding and fake egg out of the nest, I’d rather find that out before they scratch out a real egg. If that happens, it’s a sign you need to raise the lip on the nest holding the bedding in.

Also, when chicks move from sleeping on the ground to the roosts, they sometimes use the nests as a transition. Occasionally they get in the habit of sleeping in the nests instead of going on to the roosts. If that happens, I want to know about it before there are eggs in the nest. For your first pullets, it’s not a bad idea to keep the nests closed until they are sleeping on the roosts.

There is another side to this. Some chickens are real bullies on the roosts as they are settling down to sleep. This has happened several times when I am integrating younger chickens. Some are so brutalized while on the roosts and they are settling in that they leave the roosts and find a safer place to spend the night. If that is going to happen and that safer place is the nests, I want to know that before there are eggs in the overnight poop so I can do something about it. It has happened so many times with mine when I integrate that I put an additional roost lower than the main roosts and off to the side so the safer place is on that roost instead of in the nests.

So my suggestion is to open the nests as soon as they are sleeping on the roosts. With mine, this is usually around 10 to 12 weeks.

 

[camkim]

Thanks Ridgerunner, those are some great suggestions. Good to know, i didn't want to recut the nesting boxes since they are already painted.