Sharing nesting boxes....

[U_Stormcrow]

I've 7 boxes, four 12" wide by 16" deep, three 16" x 16". Fake eggs in one of each. Almost 20 layers presently (waiting on the days to lengthen some). Have never found two birds in one nest, though I understand it to be common at times. Also, have never noticed any relationship between box size and bird size. They are like high school kids. They form cliques and establish their favored hang outs. Its a lizard brain thing.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'll include a shot of my nests. They are all 16" x 16" x 16" and I keep one golf ball in each. My hens are all dual purpose large fowl, mostly mixed breed mutts. My mature laying/breeding flock is around 6 to 8 hens but in the fall I may have as many as ten pullets also laying with them. I let broody hens incubate and hatch with the flock so that can change which nests get used some.

It's pretty common to find two hens on a nest laying at the same time. I often see three in one nest at a time. That's not just when I have a lot of pullets in there either.

It varies, chickens just aren't consistent, but if I get seven eggs in a day I'd probably find four in one nest , two in another, and one by itself. It goes in streaks, sometimes the top left nest will be the most popular for a few weeks and then it switches to where one of the others is most popular. It's not always a broody hen that causes that change, I usually have no idea why they change. Sometimes it is a pretty even distribution of eggs with no one nest really that popular.

It's interesting to me to read about our differences both in hens sharing nests and egg distribution, just another example of how we all get different results.

 

[aart]

It varies, chickens just aren't consistent, but if I get seven eggs in a day I'd probably find four in one nest , two in another, and one by itself. It goes in streaks, sometimes the top left nest will be the most popular for a few weeks and then it switches to where one of the others is most popular. It's not always a broody hen that causes that change, I usually have no idea why they change. Sometimes it is a pretty even distribution of eggs with no one nest really that popular.

That's for sure!

 

[U_Stormcrow]

" chickens just aren't consistent "

Ditto that. They don't seem to know what a calendar is, either - just ask all the posters on the "when will my hen start laying?" threads.

Like @Ridgerunner, in spite of never seeing two birds in the same box at the same time, I routinely find multiple eggs in the same box, then skip a box, then one or two, then a bunch, then... which boxes, which days, also varies.

 

[RoosterCruiser72]

I was told years ago to provide 1 nest for every 3 hens. That being said I built my coop with 10 nest boxes in it. I currently have 18 hens who use exactly 3 of em lol ! I have NEVER ONCE seen an egg in any of the other boxes. The hay is not even disturbed or mashed down.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Yeah mine won't share nestboxes either, even though I built the boxes bigger in case a couple wanted to smoosh in. They just move 1 box down the line if the most popular box is occupied, or wait, but never get in together.

Back when I only had 1 box for 4 hens, they did share it once in a while, but it was community sized (like 16"x24"), and they didn't have another option anyhow.

 

[linguini]

Still perfectly normal chicken behavior. Sometimes mine will do it on purpose... it is their personalities.

Just for entertainment - I have a baby monitor with the camera aiming at the nesting boxes, with night vision, so I can see the activities even in the dark. Yesterday, Cinnamon was going to lay her first egg (yes! her very first egg!) while another young hen (Nutmeg) was working on laying her egg in her usual box. Cinnamon was anxious, going in and out of each box repeatedly, including the one Nutmeg was in, checking the ceramic eggs we left in each box. She finally decided that she wanted to cozy up with Nutmeg and squeezed into the box Nutmeg was in!!! I was amazed that Nutmeg tolerated this completely (Nutmeg, definitely with a higher pecking order than Cinnamon). Nutmeg finally finished her business and left, and Cinnamon completed hers 10 mins thereafter. The box is small, about 11x12. Attached is a picture - you can see Cinnamon in the front with her shining eye, and Nutmeg got squished in the back!! I collected their eggs soon after. There were three eggs in that box. A popular nest!

 

[Gdove419]

My chickens frequently squabble over nesting boxes. I will often see two birds squished into one box, or one bird standing there, staring down another while she waits for the nest