[ForestBeekeeper]

What do you feel is the 'best' size for a nest box?

I have been using milk-crates. Some on the floor, some mounted at 1' high, others at 2' high.

Some hens will lay eggs in the crates, some will not.

I want to encourage brooding and hatching, but few of our hens have gone broody. It was suggested that maybe if I used different sized nest boxes instead of milk-crates that would make a difference.

We have had: Araucana, Australorp, Bantam, Cochin, Orpington, Polish, RIRs,
Rock, and Wyandotte.

 

[rmsrosedawson]

I just made a nesting box with the instructions from this youtube vid:

it's working great...the girls had to get used to it being in the pen with them...took them about 2-3 days to ever use it. All five of them use it now.

 

[ForestBeekeeper]

I just made a nesting box with the instructions from this youtube vid:
Easy to Make Nesting Boxes for Chickens - Chicken Egg Laying Boxes - Chicken Egg Production - YouTube

it's working great...the girls had to get used to it being in the pen with them...took them about 2-3 days to ever use it. All five of them use it now.

Thank you.

Are they brooding?

How many clutches have they raised up?

 

[Mogli]

rmsrosedawson

That's an awesome idea for nesting boxes. :thumb:

 

[TitanRX8]

I have heard from 12X12X12 inches to 12X12X18 inches. We just eyeballed it with a 5 foot long by 12 inch wide board and put dividers in between then nailed a back board to it to make 5 nests. We hung it about 18 inches off the floor so they can jump into them pretty easily.

 

[n1d]

IMO the best brooder/hatching/momma chicken is a silkie. Haven't found an egg yet that they wont sit on.

We now have Amerisilks (Ameracuana + Silkie) :, which are prolific layers, haven't missed a beat this winter.

 

[Terra]

IMO the best brooder/hatching/momma chicken is a silkie. Haven't found an egg yet that they wont sit on.

We now have Amerisilks (Ameracuana + Silkie) :, which are prolific layers, haven't missed a beat this winter.

I'd love to see a picture of that mix! I love both breeds.

 

[9111315]

I've heard that the best size is 12" x 12" x 12".

I built mine a bit smaller. 11" x 10" x 8" . . . to avoid group laying. Still, I've seen two trying to lay at once.

I did have a buff go broody in it.

 

[ForestBeekeeper]

I've heard that the best size is 12" x 12" x 12".

I built mine a bit smaller. 11" x 10" x 8" . . . to avoid group laying. Still, I've seen two trying to lay at once.

I did have a buff go broody in it.

Thanks, we have never had any problems getting our hens to lay.

 

[kev]

My laying boxes are made out a 1x12, I think they are 14 inches wide or so.

The boxes for my next coop are going to be a little larger.

 

[9111315]

Thanks, we have never had any problems getting our hens to lay.

. . . I was talking about two crowded into the same nesting box at the same time. I guess that is what you get when stupid and stubborn collide. There were other empty nesting boxes, by that one as the current favorite. At least they did not fight over it and break all the eggs.

Also, my boxes are 2' off the ground with two perches. One for climbing and the second for entry. I have a circle opening, so the fronts are not fully open.

I put a few birds in quarantine in an open fences off part of the yard. I put a milk crate next to one of the walls and they did use the milk crate straight away.

 

[America's Patriot]

I always seemed to have 2-3 hens in particular that would get broody for the whole flock and that others would lay in the same nest. There is nothing wrong with this, but you often have to force the broody hen to get out and move around so she'll eat and drink. She'll throw up a good fuss, but it's not going to hurt anything. Makes for a funny show actually...

Keep all your boxes off the floor and let them lay in whatever one they want. It's best to have one for each hen you have, but it's not necessary. I wouldn't have more than two per box for sure...

 

[East Coast Woods]

My grandmother had chickens, and kept the laying boxes off the ground for the most part. Would place them up, sometimes about 5 feet off the ground, with poles running horizontally in front of the boxes for the hen to fly up / jump up on, and then into box. She would also place one of the old time white door knobs in the box which she said made the hen more likely to lay. All of her's were made out of wood with pine straw in them.

Sorry no more descriptive but she passed years ago.

 

[rextex]

I made mine about 12" wide, 14" long and 10" high with the front cut at an angle to about 4". My chickens seem to like them just fine and almost never have an egg laid anywhere outside the boxes.

 

[ForestBeekeeper]

I made mine about 12" wide, 14" long and 10" high with the front cut at an angle to about 4". My chickens seem to like them just fine and almost never have an egg laid anywhere outside the boxes.

How many hens do you have? How many of them have raised chicks for you?

 

[wembley]

We have a community nest box. Its 4' by 18", no dividers. I mounted it to the outside (sealed it well) and cut a single hole in the siding on one end. With 8 laying, they have shared it just fine (have 7 more pullets not yet laying, but don't see having any problems). Almost all of them go to the far end away from the opening, but they do lay at the other end & in the middle sometimes.

To encourage a hen to go broody (which in the OPs case, would most likely be the cochin), leave fake eggs (wooden deco eggs, golf balls, etc) in the nest. Broodiness is a hormonal thing, so when the mood strikes and that hen sees a nice big clutch of eggs, she'll more than likely sit on it.

I have had two hens go broody in the past couple of months, a silkie & a cochin (I prefer the cochin because she can cover a LOT more than my tiny silkie). I sectioned them off in separate corners of the coop (at night, moved nest with their fake eggs) and watched to see if it broke them of broodiness or if they were determined. If determined, I gave them fertile eggs (well, I gave the cochin feed store chicks, she doesn't have to know her wooden eggs didn't actually hatch).

 

[Terra]

Oh it's so funny that you just mentioned broodiness. I just went out to check the nest boxes for the days take on eggs. There's my Bantam Cochin looking mean as a snake in the nest box. As I walked by she just started screeching.

I don't have a rooster, so the eggs will not hatch for her, so I want them. I think I could take her. I think. I'll give her some golf balls. :thumb:

 

[wembley]

I don't have a rooster, so the eggs will not hatch for her, so I want them. I think I could take her. I think. I'll give her some golf balls. :thumb:

Do you plan on giving her fertile eggs eventually? Or feed store chicks? (can be tricky!) If not, might be best to try and break her of being broody. She could sit there on golf balls for a LONG time, could take its toll on her health.

 

[grandma]

I also started with milk crates, but when I got an Australorp i didn't think it would be big enough for her. I watched the above-noted video and decided I really liked it. The only thing I did differently, was that I turned the tote on its side, so the lid was where I made the entrance hole. I thought it might make it easier to clean out. It hasn't been out in the coop for long, and is still on the floor, but my plan is to have it about a foot or so off the floor.

 

[72bajaben]

I have 3 nesting boxes that at 16x16x16. All 7 of my hens lay in the same box...but they choose a different one each day.