How Many Hen Nest Containers Do You Want?

What number of hen nest containers you want in your coop relies upon partially on the variety of hens in your flock. A second issue is whether or not or not your hens one of many high laying breeds. Listed below are some pointers for figuring out one of the best variety of nests to your particular flock.

How Many Nests

The rule of thumb is to furnish one nest for each 4 to 5 hens in your flock. However you probably have solely 4 or 5 hens, offering two nests provides them a selection. It additionally helps stop crowding when two hens wish to lay on the similar time.

Every hen typically chooses her favourite nest. So that you’ll typically see the identical hen at all times laying in the identical nest. If one other hen beats her to it, she may attempt to crowd in. Or she may stand in entrance of the nest she desires and fuss on the hen that’s in it. Or she may transfer to a different nest.

Having correctly designed nests which can be all alike helps cut back squabbles over which one is finest, assuming you furnish sufficient of them. If, for instance, you’ve gotten six or eight hens, furnish not less than two nests; three is best. For 10 to 12 hens, present not less than three.

Too Many Nests

Putting in one nest for each hen in your flock is overkill. Even among the many finest layers, not all of the hens are going to put on the similar time and even on the identical day.

Too many nests take up pointless area. They usually invite loitering within the nests as a substitute of getting into to put after which leaving. Plus you’ll have extra work cleansing out and changing nesting materials from unneeded nests.

Even whenever you decide what number of hen nest containers you want given your flock measurement, hens may nonetheless pile into one nest to put. For those who add extra nests, the hens might ignore the brand new ones, preferring to put within the authentic nest.

Take a important look to see if the nest they like is a distinct design, or is in a greater place, than the others. In any other case, perhaps your hens are simply particularly social and like cozying up collectively.

Too Few Nests

When a coop has too few nests, a hen with an pressing want to put an egg might not be prepared to attend her flip. If she crowds into an occupied nest, eggs might get trampled and damaged. And damaged eggs result in egg consuming, a behavior that’s onerous to interrupt.

Or, as a substitute of crowding right into a nest, generally a hen loses persistence and lays her egg on the ground. Eggs laid on the ground is perhaps onerous to search out. Typically they get damaged. And more often than not they get soiled. These are good causes for furnishing nests within the first place.

Even in case you comply with the rules of offering not less than one nest per 4 or 5 hens, you might need too few in case your hens are of the finest layer breeds that lay eggs almost day by day. In that case, furnishing a number of greater than the usual variety of nests per hen will cut back ready time and conflicts.

And that’s right now’s information from the Cackle Coop.

Gail Damerow is the writer of Storey’s Information to Elevating Chickens.