Nesting box question

[gcmillar]

I built this coop 5 years ago. We have issues with chickens usually eating 1-2 eggs a day. I have been considering making the nesting box shorter vertically. Anyone have any insights? I was thinking about making it 5-6” in the back. We are adding 6 chicks to the flock this year. We have had gradual attrition and added 4 a couple years ago. There are currently 10. Also, if anyone has a suggestion for how to keep out birds as full feathered as possible I would love to hear it. We have many with naked butts and one with a naked neck currently. The two barred plymouth rocks we have always have full fethers but many of our golden sex-link and rhode island reds have many missing feathers. No Roosters in our coop. Yard to the coop is 12’ x 16’. Thanks for taking a look. Coop needs the shavings replaced and it will be done soon.

 

[cavemanrich]

I suspect that the feather loss, as well as the egg eating may be due to chickens not getting sufficient protein. Feathers contain protein, and chickens will eat other chickens feathers. What do you feed your flock?
You can increase the protein for them by giving them some dry cat food. Add about 1 cup per day into their scratch feed for your 10 chickens, and see if there are feather improvements.
Are your eggs getting eaten by chickens pecking the shells open, or are the eggs getting broken with chickens feet. (trampled) If there is a broken egg, I know my chickens go for a feeding frenzy. Mine do not purposely break eggs.
Egg eating , if it is purposely performed by your chickens, is a difficult habit to break. Sometimes needs the intervention of the Colonel. If the eggs are getting broken by chickens feet, it can also be an indication of weak shells. That is usually a result of insufficient calcium in diet. I always have cracked oyster shells free-choice for my chickens. I also feed back ALL egg shells back to my chickens. I can elaborate and explain on natural ways to give calcium, if you need more info on that.
I would not modify the size of laying boxes. I think making them smaller like you suggested would not be a solution, and actually a detriment. Chickens do need to be comfortable inside one. They also need to be able to turn around in one. Another important factor, is "a chicken needs to stand when laying egg" if boxes are too short, then chickens will decide not to use box to lay egg.
There are also alternate solutions to keep eggs from being eaten. Create a nesting box floor, where the egg rolls downhill gently and out of reach behind a barrier. That is how chicken egg factories do things, and on an automate process. You need only utilize some of their principles.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and

 

[jthornton]

I built two roll out nest boxes, one not used yet.

This one has been in use for two years.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/roll-out-nest-box-mk3.73816/
I had an egg eater that would catch the egg somehow and eat it no matter how steep I made the ramp. I gave her away...

This is the new design... waiting for some chicks.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/roll-out-nest-box-mk4.1323734/
JT

 

[gcmillar]

I suspect that the feather loss, as well as the egg eating may be due to chickens not getting sufficient protein. Feathers contain protein, and chickens will eat other chickens feathers. What do you feed your flock?
You can increase the protein for them by giving them some dry cat food. Add about 1 cup per day into their scratch feed for your 10 chickens, and see if there are feather improvements.- My wife isn't going to let me do that with cat food. Something about how her uncle fed trout dog food and they tasted like dog food. Thinks that will happen with the eggs. I feed my chickens Purina Layena pellets. Sometimes they are let out and eat grass. I feed them fruit/vegetable scraps and bugs that I catch, especially crickets and grasshoppers in the summer.

Are your eggs getting eaten by chickens pecking the shells open, or are the eggs getting broken with chickens feet. (trampled) If there is a broken egg, I know my chickens go for a feeding frenzy. Mine do not purposely break eggs.
Egg eating , if it is purposely performed by your chickens, is a difficult habit to break. - They are pecking the eggs and eating them. I have used Pinless peepers to combat the problem in the past. I have a couple chickens that are still in peepers. One of them I caught pecking an egg personally and immediately put it in a peeper. One downside to the peepers is that I have noticed they keep the chickens from activating the cups that I have for them to drink out of so I think I don't think I can convert all of them to peepers again unless I want to activate the drinking cups multiple times a day to keep them hydrated. The egg shells seem plenty strong. Hard to crack sometimes. They have oyster shell incorporated into their feed from Purina.
Sometimes needs the intervention of the Colonel. If the eggs are getting broken by chickens feet, it can also be an indication of weak shells. That is usually a result of insufficient calcium in diet. I always have cracked oyster shells free-choice for my chickens. I also feed back ALL egg shells back to my chickens. I can elaborate and explain on natural ways to give calcium, if you need more info on that.
I would not modify the size of laying boxes. I think making them smaller like you suggested would not be a solution, and actually a detriment. Chickens do need to be comfortable inside one. They also need to be able to turn around in one. Another important factor, is "a chicken needs to stand when laying egg" if boxes are too short, then chickens will decide not to use box to lay egg.
There are also alternate solutions to keep eggs from being eaten. Create a nesting box floor, where the egg rolls downhill gently and out of reach behind a barrier. That is how chicken egg factories do things, and on an automate process. You need only utilize some of their principles.- Do you have any pictures of something members have made themselves out of wood that moves the eggs out of the way, maybe something with wooden ramps. I have tried the porcelain egg thing but that hasn't seemed to change anything either.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and-Thanks