Question about nesting boxes???

[LeghornAl_76]

I am a first time chicken owner and I am remodeling an old chicken coop. I added 5 new 12" x 12" nesting boxes. However, I will have at least 20 laying hens (probably 23). Do I need to build a few more boxes??? Thanks! BTW, I love the chicken math thing. I wanted 2 laying hens to see if I wanted to take on this challenge. My wife, kids, parents, niece and nephew had their say......soooooooo, we ended up with 25 day old chicks. Now they are 15 days old and I can't imagine doing it any other way!!!

 

[ChickenToes]

I would add a few more boxes, just to keep 'traffic jams' from happening. When I had 15 hens a few years ago they all liked to lay in the same 2 boxes, even though there were 3 others available to them.

 

[gryeyes]

The general recommendation is one box for every four hens. Dunno how "they" came up with that, but it's a good mix. I think you have enough, really. You might, Chicken Toes mentioned, have a traffic jam or two now and then. They DO tend to use the same nest boxes! "She's using that one, it must be a good one. I want to use it too." "Me, too!" "Wait, I'm head hen - I get to use it first."

You get the picture.