Hello, I am very new at this and had a quick question. We recently got 5 beautiful chicks (love them!) But, we are now building a coop and I was told that you are not supposed to have a nest for each chick that there is a certain amount of nests per group of chicks. Its being built as I type so I dont want there to be to few nests. Please help
One nest per 4-5 hens works well if you have 20 or more birds, but in your case I'd put two nest boxes in. With only one you'll be bound to have two hens wanting it at the same time and that can lead to minor fights and sometimes broken eggs when the wedge themselves in on top of another hen. It's also nice to have an "extra" in case one goes broody and hogs the nest box.
I have 5 hens, and two nest boxes. I would never go with just one nest box, because you never know when a broody situation will occur, or when one will simply be taking her sweet time laying an egg... Even with two, I'm glad I built mine bigger than the 12x12 many suggest, because I've had hens who couldn't "hold it" any longer and squeeze in behind another to lay her egg.
