Nesting Boxes - This might be silly question

[itgns]

This question is a little early since my family is just starting out in raising chickens. But do nesting boxes have to be at a certain height? I see a lot of people put them a few feet above the ground, which seems nice to me since you don't have to bend down so much to gather the eggs.

But if you want a hen to go broody and raise chicks, wouldn't have the nesting box be so high be bad for the chicks once they want to leave the nest?

 

[Folly's place]

The nest boxes are best off the floor, but below the height of the roosts. When i have a setting hen, she gets moved into a large dog crate or separate private area in the dead of night. She and her eggs and chicks need privacy. mary

 

[Folly's place]

The nest boxes are best off the floor, but below the height of the roosts. When i have a setting hen, she gets moved into a large dog crate or separate private area in the dead of night. She and her eggs and chicks need privacy. mary

 

[itgns]

Oh! That makes a lot more sense. Thank you very much!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I think the only thing you’ll find with more variety in what we use for nests is coops. Practically anything goes in what we use, how they are built, and where we put nests. You can use buckets, plastic crates, cardboard boxes, chest-of-drawers or book shelves, build something out of wood, make individual nests or community nest boxes, make rollaway nests, or make or use many other things. I even saw a photo where someone used a kitchen sink just to show you could.

Some people totally enclose them, going so far as hanging a curtain across the front to make them as dark as possible. Some people put a cat litter box on the floor, put some type of bedding in, leave it wide open to the world, and call it good. Some hang them on the walls, a few inches off the floor or high enough so they don’t have to bend to gather eggs. Some have outside access, many don’t. Some people make them so small one hen has to crowd to get in while others build community nest boxes that can hold a half dozen at a time.

The only real rules I know of is that they need to be lower than the roosts since they like to sleep on the highest thing available and you want them constructed and positioned so that they don’t poop in them from the roosts.

I also suggest enough of a lip on the nest to keep the en from scratching out the bedding or eggs. It also keeps the chicks form falling out. I use about a 5” lip.

I’ve seen a hen get chicks out of a ten foot high hay loft. Mama says jump and they don’t bother to ask how high. When they hit the ground they jump up and run to Mama. Many people on here freak out about the thought of them jumping more than a few inches but a few feet doesn’t faze me or them at all. At night my broodies normally take them to a corner of the coop on the floor instead of back to the nest. A couple of my nests are low enough that two or three day old chicks can jump up in them if they really want to, about 12”, but Mama practically always heads for a corner.

 

[Folly's place]

Nest boxes about two to three feet off the floor make it easier to collect eggs, and provide more floor space for the birds. Mine are just high enough that a large dog crate will fit under, very handy very often. Mary

 

[Folly's place]

Nest boxes about two to three feet off the floor make it easier to collect eggs, and provide more floor space for the birds. Mine are just high enough that a large dog crate will fit under, very handy very often. Mary