Help me adapt my nesting boxes.

[Lulu-vt]

I adore my coop! It is almost perfect. And I built it alone, so I’m pretty proud. What I don’t realize, and I’m a little embarrassed…I didn’t know hens stood up and laid their eggs. Without this knowledge, I’ve made the nesting boxes too short and maybe too narrow. I’ve got some very big chickens!
I don’t mind doing a remodel in the spring when it’s warmer. But what could I do now to create an area they feel comfortable laying in.
Currently they are laying their eggs on top of their feeder! The top is 3 feet off the ground. Today I saw that the lid must have flipped and 3 eggs were inside!!
I’d like to maximize space as they seem to like spending time inside when the weather is chilly. I have 16 chickens so it fills quickly.
Any ideas that you may have would be great. Could I build a shelf near the current boxes or do they definitely need a box-type thing?

 

[Debbie292d]

It looks like a beautiful coop, and if nest boxes is your only issue, you can be proud despite it.

Nest boxes should be 12" x 12" for regular chickens, and one nest for every four hens.

The depth probably isn't as important as the height, so could you remove either the roof or the base of those and give them a couple of more inches? They don't stand to lay the eggs, but they want to be able to walk into the nests, sit down, lay the egg, and walk out, not crouch.

In the meantime, until you can fix those, just a couple of cardboard boxes with some straw or wood chips in would suffice, or an old laundry basket I've seen used too.

Another idea is you could try, on one of them, putting a step per se in front of the box. See if they'd use that one then.

 

[springvalley123]

You can use some makeshift pieces of cardboard, with concrete blocks or the feed tub helping prop up the division boards. Or a rubbermaid tub on its side with some hay/straw/shavings in it, partially hidden by a cardboard/piece of plywood. Or a sterilite tub with lid on, with a big hole cut in it to come and go. They just need a bit of seclusion/privacy that this would provide. A cardboard box on its side might last a while, but then someone WILL hop up on it, perhaps collapsing it, otherwise pooping on it.... Also, they will probably hop up on the pieces of plywood, so that has to be sturdy. It can still be temporary, just use screws to attach it to the wall if you don't just prop it up with big blocks.

 

[StinkyAcres]

They don't stand to lay the eggs

Not sure if it depends on the breed, but most chickens do stand when they lay an egg.

Like @springvalley123 said, almost any box/bin with bedding in it will do in the meantime. I'd aim for 14"x14"x14"

 

[Lulu-vt]

It looks like a beautiful coop, and if nest boxes is your only issue, you can be proud despite it.

Nest boxes should be 12" x 12" for regular chickens, and one nest for every four hens.

The depth probably isn't as important as the height, so could you remove either the roof or the base of those and give them a couple of more inches? They don't stand to lay the eggs, but they want to be able to walk into the nests, sit down, lay the egg, and walk out, not crouch.

In the meantime, until you can fix those, just a couple of cardboard boxes with some straw or wood chips in would suffice, or an old laundry basket I've seen used too.

Another idea is you could try, on one of them, putting a step per se in front of the box. See if they'd use that one then.

Yes, in the spring or if we get a couple of warm days I could definitely raise the roof on these. But for right now, they have to crouch to turn around and it seems cramped. The step is a good idea. I’ll try it. I have put a couple of crates in there but they end up just flipping them with their curiosity.

 

[Sic]

The simple temporary fix would be to get a large covered cat litter box, if it has a flap door just remove it. If you need it to not be flipped over - put an inch or so of sand on the bottom. In a pinch, a milk crate turned on it's side. As a ground layer they typically lay in secluded brush piles and that's why they like the boxes, but in all honesty, they will lay in an open basket, inside an old tire or just about anywhere, including your food bin

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I once saw a sign in a restroom that said, "Sometimes we sits and thinks, other times we just sits." Hens do a lot of "just sitting," then rise up to a standing position at the "thinking" part of the process - that last moment when they drop the egg.

 

[Altairsky]

Use a fruit crate, plastic or wood is fine. Place a brick inside so they won't tip it. Fill with hay or straw. Put it near the nest boxes. Place a fake egg inside. This is the quickest and cheapest temporary fix.
https://www.google.it/m?q=fruit+crate&client=ms-opera-mobile&channel=new&espv=1
Don't let them lay in the feeder, it will became a habit.
A cardboard box with a brick inside to avoid tipping is also fine but it will get dirty smelly and moist very fast so it has to be replaced often.