size of nesting boxes

[dreithel]

I'm building my coop right now and I'm to the point of building the nesting boxes. They will be projecting out the back wall of the coop. I'll be putting them in between the studs that are 16 o.c. How high and deep should they be?
Thanks in advance!!

 

[Ridgerunner]

For full sized chicken breeds the normal recommendation is a minimum of 12” cubed. They will use some smaller areas, especially if they want to hide a nest, but if you are building, 12” minimum. I made mine 16” cubed, width x depth x height.

Since your studs are 16”, it certainly makes sense to make them 16” wide, which is what I think you are planning. For the other dimensions anything 12” or over will work. A word of caution. I like a lip across the bottom maybe 4” to 5” high to hold the bedding and eggs in while they are scratching around in there with about an 8” opening above that for the hen to get into the nest. I’ve had them use a 6” height opening but that was a bit tight. So pay attention to your framing to make sure you leave enough of an opening height to accommodate this. That’s how I wound up with a 6” opening height for them when I had to raise the lip to keep them from scratching the eggs out.

 

[Peekje]

Hi. I recently joined this forum, and I am enjoying it. I am in the process of building a coop, and am using 5 gallon pails for nesting boxes. Is this sufficient? I would also like to know how far away from the nesting boxes I need to place a rail so they can enter the nest without problems.