Should every hen have a nest box?

[chickencoop789]

Should all of my hens have their own nest box? Can they share?

 

[ZaksGarden]

I have read that 1 nesting box per 3 hens is sufficient. I have 4 hens and 2 nesting boxes and things are just fine!

 

[MeringueHasAHat]

I agree with the poster above,

1 box for 3 hens is perfect.

My flock of 6 is more-than-comfortable with 3 nesting boxes

 

[Dprod]

I'm a newbie to chickens. And that is great to know!! I was just trying to decide how many boxes to have. Thanks!

 

[1muttsfan]

All my hens want to lay in the same box - their favorite is whichever one has the first egg of the day layed in it. It is fun seeing then line up impatiently for their turn in the chosen box.

One nest per 3-4 hens is fine. Putting wooden eggs in the boxes helps encourage them to spread the eggs out.

 

[CatUT]

My six chickens mostly lay in one box. Every once in a great while they lay in the other and rarely they split between the two boxes.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I have 29 hens that are all producing eggs and 6 nest boxes total in their coop. Usually, only 4 of those boxes have eggs in them by the end of the day, sometimes 5, but never all 6.

 

[duckyhomie12]

I agree with the poster above,

1 box for 3 hens is perfect.

My flock of 6 is more-than-comfortable with 3 nesting boxes

we have 13 chickens and 2 separate coops and 4 nest box's in 1 coop and 3 in the other is that enough? gotta go

 

[MsBagawkbagawk]

I have 30-40 laying hens and 15 boxes. It works fine, but they also have a corner of the coop they like, even though a few nesting boxes are always open.

Silly chickens..... They do have their favorite three or four boxes they always use though. And if a hen dares go broody in there they've got no problem getting right in with her to lay their eggs, and the broody moves out real fast after that lol. Only a few times have the boxes ever been "full" but I kicked some broodies out and everything was fine. I think a 1:3 ratio would be good, but you definitely don't need one for every hen, because they all seem to like a special few anyways.

 

[ChickensRDinos]

I have 5 hens and 2 boxes. They all lay in the same box. Sometimes 3 will cram in there at the same time.