Why do all the chickens lay and sleep in the same nestbox?

Mine do the same then, we decided it was crazy having all the divided nesting boxes, so we built 2 super large boxes they are 8 feet long and have one divider. They still all lay in the same nest and not only the same nest but all lay in the very back corner, all the eggs are in this one small area. I think it is crazy. I have stood there and watched them, it is so funny. They all want in there at the same time and they will peck each other so that the other ones can't lay in that one small area, there is 8 feet to lay eggs.

 

Because that's what chickens do.

Maybe it has something to do with their instinctual tendency to want to add to an existing clutch of eggs rather than lay new eggs individually elsewhere. Or maybe they are just bloodyminded and dim. Or maybe it is part of some complex psychological experiment they're doing on humans. I dunno.

Bottom line, yes, that's what chickens are like. Get used to it

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

If every hen laid in a nest of her own, it would take her a good long time to build up a clutch of eggs large enough to set. By that time, the first laid eggs would be less fresh (and less likely to hatch).

On the other hand, with a flock of hens adding to a communal nest, you get a clutch large enough to set very quickly. The eggs are freshly laid when the hen settles down to incubate them.

From an evolutionary perspective, all of the hens in a wild flock are likely to be genetically related anyway, so it doesn't make that much of a difference who sets whose eggs.

 

Mine hens also lay mostly in the same box every day.
But every day it may be a different box.
Their preferred box is the one in the southeast corner of the coop.
Next place of preference is to lay eggs Under the SE egg box. It stands on 8 inch 2x4 legs and the hens fit in nicely underneath to lay eggs on the floor.
Next place of preference is the Southwest egg box.

Both egg boxes are identical except for orientation in the coop.
But it seems that once one hen lays in a box every other will follow that day.

Each day is different but they follow the same trend every day.