Nesting box recommendations

[brezbyme]

I've finished everything but the nesting boxes for my chickens and wondered if anyone might

have recommendations for style. I want to build them into the corners on either side of the lower roost, shown in picture. I have 20 chickens but I think I may have at least two roosters, not positive yet. I thought that maybe 3 nests on each side, for a total of 6 nesting boxes, would be sufficient.

 

[jthornton]

A single nest box 48" wide 14" tall and 14"-18" deep will work for 20 hens.

As you can see no one uses the lower roost... if you just convert that to a nest box and put a sloping top at a 45° angle they won't roost on it.

If you add a poop board below the roost and put some Sweet PDZ in poop clean up is so much easier.

JT

 

[aart]

Lots of different ways to do nests.

Community nests, without without roll out capacity, can be great.
Single nests should be 12" x 12" x 12" minimum, mine are 14x14x16.
Did you know chickens stand up when the eggs actually emerges from the vent?

Do you have a storage space walled off in your coop?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/coop-configuration-help.1228785/
If so, you could put the nests in that wall, for more pleasant chores and gathering of eggs in winter.

 

[brezbyme]

A single nest box 48" wide 14" tall and 14"-18" deep will work for 20 hens.

As you can see no one uses the lower roost... if you just convert that to a nest box and put a sloping top at a 45° angle they won't roost on it.

If you add a poop board below the roost and put some Sweet PDZ in poop clean up is so much easier.

JT

Just to be clear, you're saying I could make just one large nesting area? I never thought about that, though I knew that they often use the same box anyway.
If I convert the "mini" roost (from what I had read, I needed 20 feet of roosting room) how would they get up to the top roost? The thing hanging from that lower roost was a quick attempt to put a poop board under it. I had gotten some of that PDZ stuff but then never opened it since they all started going up on the top roost. Maybe I need to reconfigure things.

 

[brezbyme]

Lots of different ways to do nests.

Community nests, without without roll out capacity, can be great.
Single nests should be 12" x 12" x 12" minimum, mine are 14x14x16.
Did you know chickens stand up when the eggs actually emerges from the vent?

Do you have a storage space walled off in your coop?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/coop-configuration-help.1228785/
If so, you could put the nests in that wall, for more pleasant chores and gathering of eggs in winter.

Yes, I do have a walled off area towards the front of the shed made of chicken wire and 2x4's. Are there partitions on the inside of this setup? where each circle is into it's own box?

 

[lazy gardener]

How wide is your coop? I recommend 1 l.f. of roost space per bird, and suggest that it be 15" from the back wall to help limit skid marks on the wall. What are the dimensions of your coop? Do you intend to add a broody area? Have nest boxes accessible from outside the coop? What is your climate? I would put the boxes where ever they can easily be accessed by you without walking through a lot of chicken poop. I have my boxes by the front people door.

I'm in snow country. So, my nest boxes with outside access are inside the coop foot print. I have a 3 over 3 configuration, with 2 doors to access them from outside. When my flock got bigger, I built a raised broody cage that is 2' x 3.5'. That area has 2 big boxes, plus enough room for a third nest spot. I keep that area stuffed full of hay. That broody area can also be accessed from outside the coop. (you can view my coop by pasting the "interview post" in my signature into a search bar.)

 

[aart]

Yes, I do have a walled off area towards the front of the shed made of chicken wire and 2x4's. Are there partitions on the inside of this setup? where each circle is into it's own box?

Yes and yes.
I made the partitions removable and started with 2 individual nests and 'double', but they always treated the double as a single so I put that partition back in for 4 separate 14x14x16 nests. I use fake eggs so my 14 layers use all 4 nests every day...not that there aren't favorites that get squabbled over on occasion.

 

[lazy gardener]

New box, Aart?

 

[aart]

New box, Aart?

Nope, had it from the start in 2013.

 

[jthornton]

Just to be clear, you're saying I could make just one large nesting area? I never thought about that, though I knew that they often use the same box anyway.
If I convert the "mini" roost (from what I had read, I needed 20 feet of roosting room) how would they get up to the top roost? The thing hanging from that lower roost was a quick attempt to put a poop board under it. I had gotten some of that PDZ stuff but then never opened it since they all started going up on the top roost. Maybe I need to reconfigure things.

Yes, commercial nest boxes are just one large box. This is my Roll Out Nest Box Mk3.



If they don't have to fly up to the roost you don't need as much. Even though I have 11' of roost, I've seen 8 on 4' of roost. If you build a platform under your roost about 1' below and make it at least 24" wide with a lip to contain the PDZ and a ramp up to the platform you can have less than 20'. How wide is the shed?

This is my roosts.


JT