nesting boxes necessary?

[KirstenColorado]

Yet another question! I now have a large coop, homemade and room for them to roam during the day (in a covered area since we have some, um, "interest" from some of the local critters.
Now I have a RIR, an Aracona, an Austrolorp and 10 Gold Sex Links. Yes, this is crazy addictive! The first three are feathered out, so they love a little outside time when it's warm enough (5 weeks old). My littler 6 day old Gold Sex Links aren't quite there yet!
I have a nice, large shelf area slightly above the roost bars, and there is enough room for more chickens than I have. The shelves have straw for nesting.
The question is, do they need official nesting boxes? Or will they just make their own little straw nests?
TIA!

 

[Judy]

They wil make their own. However, if there is no lip on the front of the shelf, the eggs may roll off. In a way, what you have is a "community nest," which some flocks do well with. It seems some chickens are a lot fussier about layng in a semi-hidden spot than others.

But the main advantage of nest boxes is they tend to lay in them instead of all over their territory, resulting in daily egg hunts. Really, you may do fine with your setup, if you can find the eggs or they only use the shelf. Certainl, nature doesn't build nest boxes for them.....