Chickens and Nesting Boxes

Chickens and Nesting Boxes

Chickens don’t require a store bought nesting box. In fact, all they want is a container to snuggly fit their tush inside that has some kind of thick matter for them to mold into the perfect nest.  This makes the nesting box a great place to save money and be creative. When considering nesting boxes, your main goals should to be sensible placement, proper amount, and healthy sanitation.

Nesting boxes need to be dry, clean, and in a cool dark location.  Not cold, but cool, and certainly not in a spot where she’s likely to end up with an omelet from an overabundance of heat.

Chickens generally want to lay in a dark and secluded area.  The more of a secret hiding place it is, the more likely they are to return to it again and again. Nesting boxes are best put in dark hiding spots where there is minimal traffic, albeit other chickens or humans. Don’t put nesting boxes near feeders or water fountains – even here there is too much activity. Hang or set the boxes in the darkest most secluded location you have within the coop or run.

As a little side note: chickens that are allowed to free range in the yard will often decide to lay eggs under porches or beneath bushes.  this pretty lady here to our left found the perfect nesting location on a boat cover.

Each hen doesn’t require her own personal nesting throne. Don’t be annoyed if regardless of how many boxes you provide, your hens use only a few. Lot’s of cluckery can be involved around nesting boxes, and at times there is even a line of pacing hens waiting for her special time. This, and the fact some hens may be inclined to forgo any box altogether, opting a shrub or underneath the porch instead, may be inevitable. Generally, three boxes is sufficient for up to five hens. For larger flocks, add additional boxes with the knowledge each hen is on her own schedule and needs a time slot rather her own space.

As far as sanitation is concerned, nesting boxes of plastic and metal work best, but neither are creative or give the visual of the happy chicken.  Personally, I imagine hens comfortably nestled into old, hand built wooden boxes, plush and overflowing with fresh straw. I certainly don’t think plastic and I sure don’t think metal.  However, plastic and metal don’t contain little cracks which allow places for nasty mites and lice to hide and breed by the thousands. If you’re stuck in the same visual I enjoy, there are ways to safely keep wood in the picture, and metal out.

Wood nesting boxes need a little prep work before given to the coop. It’s advised that you paint, stain, or seal the wood box with low or no-VOC (volatile organic compounds) paints that release no, or minimal VOC pollutants, and are virtually odor free. When choosing colors, I suggest selecting a vibrant color to add to the coop’s ambiance.  Adding stripes, patterns, or a simple design with one color can be great! Remember, this should be fun! 

Allow the nesting box, or boxes, to dry thoroughly and then stuff the boxes with new straw, pine shavings, or leaves from the yard. Taking this extra step will save you oodles of trouble down the road. Repeat the painting process yearly in the spring when you take on your spring Coop Cleaning.