nesting box

Why do my Orpingtons (bantam and regular) prefer to huddle up on the floor at night instead of roosting on their perch? I’m busy drawing up plans for a luxurious coop for them to sleep in (this will be inside of a very big catio-inspired run/enclosure/aviary in my backyard). They’ve been in a...

(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens? - Hi, we are Rudolf and Jowanita De Villiers from South Africa. We have been raising and attempt to breed show quality Rhode Island Red and Japanese Bantam chickens. We have been busy for less than a year now, also one of the reasons...

I have tried searching the site but couldn’t find what I was looking for. We are making a big metal dog cage/run into a mobile chicken run just for the day when we choose to pet them get some fresh bugs and such in the grass area. I know I can get waterer to hang on the wire but any ideas on...

Happy Sunday all- I am running my brain ragged trying to figure out my build for aviary style coop I am working on. The coop and run are one and the same, with the entire area being roofed but otherwise open since my location is hot and humid (Puna, Hawaii). Some others in the area have literal...

This morning one of my nesting boxes looked like a crime scene. I have 3 nesting boxes open and 5 hens. 2 of them have been laying for a while and 2 just started laying. I know it was my 3 oldest fighting over this one box. One of them ended up laying on the drop board in the coop which has...

I have a flock of 12 (11 hens 1 roo) but will slowly be adding. I have an 8x12 shed for their coop. How many nesting boxes should I have? I want enough so I do not need to add on in the future when adding onto the flock. I was thinking 6? I will not go over 18-20 chickens(I'm thinking lol) Also...

My chickens are getting older and one should lay her first egg very soon. But im realizing there isnt much information (or information i cant understand atleast) that explains what i need and should do. I know we need nesting boxes, unfortunately my coop didnt come with pre made ones so i need...

Hi fellow chicken enthusiasts! I have visited this page for the last couple of months to read and learn, and I finally decided to officially join and help answer questions! I'm also having an ongoing issue with my girls that I'd appreciate advice on. My girls are 19 weeks old and 2 have very...

First, my dad made this box for his chickens several years ago and stopped using it, so we were able to get it. Fresh paint, ta-da! We did add two crates on end as it only held 4. I'm a very visual person, so I look for photos more. Read about using feed bags for pads- I cut and sewn a couple...

So I have 3 hens that went broody around the same time. I let them each have 3 eggs. Some are definitely going to hatch, hopefully this weekend but not sure how many yet. I ordered a few chicks from our local farm store to have just in case. These mamas deserve babies! They’ve worked so hard...

So I went out to do my morning check on the ladies. Gave them their favorite treat - blueberries. Called out my "chick, chick, chick, chick" and only got a few takers. Which was strange. So I went into the coop and found this! LOL! I pulled the green egg out from under Hawkeye, but apparently...

Not sure where to put this, so I'm posting it here. I have a spare 10 gallon glass aquarium tank which has never been used before that I've been trying to think of uses for with poultry. The dimensions of the tank are roughly 20" L x 12.5" H x 10.5" W so I've thought that maybe it can be used...

Pls advise! Nesting box height for: -2 brahma chickens -2 rhode island red chickens -2 ducks All 6 will be in same coop. Understand brahma wont fly high to nest and ducks/brahma need bigger nesting box. Nesting boxes, can I build 3 at 12 inch height from ground and 3 at 24 inch height form...

Recently my sebright brahma bantam cross went broody. She’s pretty small as you could imagine, and she went broody in a nesting box. It was the least popular nesting box, but of course now that she’s in it everyone wants it. They keep trying to squeeze their way into the nesting box with her to...

Okay..so I made an amateur mistake. When we put our pullets into the coop, we didn’t cover up the nesting box area (at the time we hadn’t finished putting the dividers in so I want sure if it mattered) One of my hens (16 weeks) laid her first egg, we found it in the run. So, we put dividers in...

We picked up 8 birds today. 18 weeks. They came from a large farm where they sell birds ready to lay. They were kept in an open barn. They are adjusting to their coop just fine and to our surprise, we got 2 eggs on the first day. Problem is they were just in the bedding in the coop...not the...

I have a flock of 14 hens (black copper Maran, Orpington bantam, EEs and OEs) and 2 ducks. Right now I have a double laying box, two singles, and a large communal laying box. I want to divide the communal box up because the hens only like the divided ones but will occasionally use the communal...

I'm trying to deter my girls from favoring one nesting box and I've read that this can be prevented using fake/ceramic eggs or golf balls but I have neither! If I don't have to buy some, what else can be used that is just as effective? That's if I have it readily available lol. If I don't, I'd...

My EE little ladies have not laid an egg for three weeks since I replaced their rotting nesting box. The rest of the flock is taking it well but my six EEs were very upset over the box change. I miss my four blue eggs per day. My other hens are RRs, Barred Rocks and Buff Orpingtons and they do...