Chickens

[kenmac]

Thinking about getting some chickens for eggs. Is it better/ cheaper to build the laying boxes, or buy them ?
Probably get about 6-10 chickens...Do I need one laying box for each chicken ?

 

[Concordriver]

Thinking about getting some chickens for eggs. Is it better/ cheaper to build the laying boxes, or buy them ?
Manufactured nesting boxes often come with plastic trays. This can make cleaning out the boxes easier. However, there is no reason you can't build nesting boxes if that is your preference. You do not need a nesting box for each chicken. They share. So, for 6-8 chickens, you should be fine with 3-4 nesting boxes.

 

[coldsteelva]

You could probably get away with 3; I have 7 layers right now (the other 5 are still pullets) and the 7 lay eggs in only 2 of the boxes inside the coop. Sometimes they have even tried to occupy the same box at the same time and lay together.

 

[JPRambo]

I have 9 hens and 1 rooster. I have 3 laying boxes I made from MDF ply. Usually there is 4 or 5 eggs in 1 box and 1 or 2 in the other boxes.

 

[kcflhrc]

I would go with 3 or 4 laying boxes, that would be plenty. A lot of times our 9 birds will lay in the same box but they don't all lay every day. We made ours out of plywood with a hinged top.

 

[ning]

I have boxes for mine, but typically at most one is used - often they make a nest on the floor and lay eggs there; they usually overnight on a perch in the run (I have a hen house and a fully enclosed run; both have various places where chickens can roost, and except when it's really cold they typically roost in the run and not in the house, so the entire house becomes one big nesting box for most of the year...).

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

4sq ft of floor space per hen in the coop, 10sq ft in the chicken run, 8in of roost per hen which must be higher than the nesting boxes, 4-5 hens per nesting box, I had around 80 chickens at one time lol. The plastic bins on this type of design is really nice and easy to clean out, I built it from scrap lumber I had laying around, nothing fancy.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

We always built ours when I was a kid. Not sure I'd call it "cheaper", but if you factor in the free kid labor (lol), and the use of scrap wood whenever possible, it was probably cheaper out of pocket.

 

[kenmac]

View attachment 514338View attachment 514339View attachment 514340

4sq ft of floor space per hen in the coop, 10sq ft in the chicken run, 8in of roost per hen which must be higher than the nesting boxes, 4-5 hens per nesting box, I had around 80 chickens at one time lol. The plastic bins on this type of design is really nice and easy to clean out, I built it from scrap lumber I had laying around, nothing fancy.

I found thesehttps://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/little-giant-single-nesting-box?cm_vc=-10005 at TSC
I like your idea better. I can buy those plastic totes at wally world .

I see you built steps to the 1st row of boxes.. Do you have to build steps to the laying boxes, or will they fly up to the boxes ? The boxes at TSC have a perch on them

Will hens lay without a Rooster ? I really didn't want a Rooster
I probably won't have more than 8-10 chickens..

 

[Clint S]

The steps make it easier for them to get up in a smaller area.

No rooster needed unless you like to get attacked if you look at the hens cross eyed (or want fertilized eggs for hatching). They tear up the hens too.
I keep one in the summer as a lookout, they will protect their hens. In the winter they are good for nothing but eating (you eating them or them eating a ton of feed).