My hens are nearly ready for laying,.. What size boxes/compartments do hens like when they lay eggs, as I am going to build onto the back of thier coop,.. I have 2 girl Brahmas,.. and a trio of Wyandotte Bantams.?.. so approx how many inches per box..?
Chicken Laying Boxes!
- Thread starter Tally
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Wrigley62
New member
Good morning Tally,
I have 4 boxes for 16 hens (Pullets). They are aprox. 13" wide X 17" deep X 17" high, I've heard they like them "cozy" with enough room to stand and move around a little. My hens are standard size, I guess they're considered heavy breeds, not Bantams. Mine won't get much bigger and they seem to be doing quite well with that size of box.
Wrigley
I have 4 boxes for 16 hens (Pullets). They are aprox. 13" wide X 17" deep X 17" high, I've heard they like them "cozy" with enough room to stand and move around a little. My hens are standard size, I guess they're considered heavy breeds, not Bantams. Mine won't get much bigger and they seem to be doing quite well with that size of box.
Wrigley
Are you keeping all your birds in the same coop and run, Tally? Sort of little and large? The Brahmas will be very big girls when fully mature and I should think their nestbox(es) would need to be a least half as big again as what Wrigley finds to be OK for his medium sized LF. If they are nearly ready to lay they will be wanting to inspect the nestboxes any time now, so maybe a job for next weekend?
Make sure the nestboxes are lower than the perches in your coop to discourage the bantams from sleeping in them, although the Brahmas may like to sleep on the floor as they are rather heavy to get up on to a perch.
Make sure the nestboxes are lower than the perches in your coop to discourage the bantams from sleeping in them, although the Brahmas may like to sleep on the floor as they are rather heavy to get up on to a perch.
Margaid
Well-known member
I remembered reading a post by Chrismahon about nest boxes for larger birds earlier this year Marigold, and as he's offline I searched and found it. This is what he said: "I enlarged ours for the Orpingtons to 17" wide x 18" deep x 20-16" high (external box with sloping roof). I think you may want to go a bit wider and higher than ours because the bedding takes up some headroom and ours stand for a few seconds to actually lay the egg."
He was responding to a question about Jersey Giants - I don't know how Jersey Giants, Orpingtons and Brahmas compare size-wise, but hope this is of help.
He was responding to a question about Jersey Giants - I don't know how Jersey Giants, Orpingtons and Brahmas compare size-wise, but hope this is of help.
jrpoultryandgame
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my nest boxes are 1 foot squared 
That sounds OK for bantams but I'm sure my Sussex couldn't fit into one as small as that. It's surprising how much room the tail feathers take up in a medium to large hen when she's on the nest, which is why the height is important as well as the floor size.
Ohh thank you 'Marrigold'.. 'Wrigley' .. 'Margaid'.. 'Poultryandgame'.. some good tips to work on,.. I have two coops.. one is a rabbit hutch which I have built a 3 box sloping roof on the back, (so I needn't go in the pen to check for eggs!).. I have a thick perch in there,.. and the egg boxes are about 4 inches below the floor area,.. and hay inside the boxes... with 2 dummy eggs?..out of the 3 boxes in there, two are approx 12'' square, and one is double that,..but thinking of just making them into 2 boxes..what do you think folks?
The other coop in a propper hen coop with no perch,.. which I have halved with a piece of wood 3 inches high..with hay in.. but I think the brahmas are sleeping in the hay.. hence the poo..!
ps. will try and get a pic. of the system.!
Tally
The other coop in a propper hen coop with no perch,.. which I have halved with a piece of wood 3 inches high..with hay in.. but I think the brahmas are sleeping in the hay.. hence the poo..!
ps. will try and get a pic. of the system.!
Tally
Checked my birds this afterrnoon,.. and seems though all the birds are sleeping in the smaller hen coop, and not the rabbit-hutch conversion, with the perch in it. The latter is the biggest and the pellets are in there too,.. but the shavings are clean, which tells me they are sleeping in the smaller house, which hasn't got a perch and which I thought the Brahmas would use as a laying egg quarters.!.. I suppose I will find out better when they start laying..??... would they lay outside..? 
It's not a very good idea to keep the food in the coop, Tally, as it may get contaminated as well as taking up space needed by the girls. Have you got a covered area within the run for the feeder? Take it in at night in case any vermin find it.
Hay does get very messy, doesn't it- you may find its better just to use shavings in the nestboxes, and shavings or newspaper on the floor of the coop, as either of these make it easier to clean out.
The smaller boxes in the rabbit hutch coop will be fine for the bantams, and one big box between two will do for the Brahmas, so long as they have the sense to use it of course. How big are the boxes in the proper hen coop? If you would prefer it if the bantams layed and roosted in one coop and the big girls in the other one, you could easily train them to do that. Just separate them into two adjacent flocks by stretching a length of netting across the run between the coops. The girls who are next to the rabbit hutch coop will naturally go in there, and you will need to watch and encourage the others to use the proper hen coop when dusk falls, maybe for a night or two.
So long as there's enough room and suitable nestboxes in just one coop for all of them, another idea would be to just use the one which is largest and shut the other one up. It's often very useful to have a spare coop, eg if a bird is sick or injured, or if you are introducing new hens and want to keep them separate at first, and if they were using both coops at once you couldn't do this. So long as all your birds are getting on well together despite the size difference, they will be OK in the same coop , and seem to have chosen this anyway from what you are saying.
Hay does get very messy, doesn't it- you may find its better just to use shavings in the nestboxes, and shavings or newspaper on the floor of the coop, as either of these make it easier to clean out.
The smaller boxes in the rabbit hutch coop will be fine for the bantams, and one big box between two will do for the Brahmas, so long as they have the sense to use it of course. How big are the boxes in the proper hen coop? If you would prefer it if the bantams layed and roosted in one coop and the big girls in the other one, you could easily train them to do that. Just separate them into two adjacent flocks by stretching a length of netting across the run between the coops. The girls who are next to the rabbit hutch coop will naturally go in there, and you will need to watch and encourage the others to use the proper hen coop when dusk falls, maybe for a night or two.
So long as there's enough room and suitable nestboxes in just one coop for all of them, another idea would be to just use the one which is largest and shut the other one up. It's often very useful to have a spare coop, eg if a bird is sick or injured, or if you are introducing new hens and want to keep them separate at first, and if they were using both coops at once you couldn't do this. So long as all your birds are getting on well together despite the size difference, they will be OK in the same coop , and seem to have chosen this anyway from what you are saying.
Thanx f that marigold,.. I will take your advice, I have a coop run which I can put up against the chicken coop, and maybe put the Bantam trio in there, and the Brahma girls can go in the rabbit hutch, and after say 'a week', they ma have learned to keep that habbit,..if not, I will shut down the smallest which is the chicken coop.. if it works, and they sleep in different houses,.. I have an ark spare.. for the sick or injured.! How does that sound. 
Tally
Tally
foxy
Active member
Brahmas are enormous birds, classed as "soft heavy". I breed large salmon faverolles which are about the same size. I use large playhouses or sheds for them and they lay the largest nestboxes...about 18inches square or they just lay in a corner on the floor.
I'd love to see your birds, Tally - they must look great together. Any chance you could post some pics for us?