Our big coop has four nesting/laying boxes. Our coop in MO had three boxes. I don’t think it would matter if we had 14 boxes for 13 chickens. They all want to use the same box. It’s not always the same box. It seems that the chief hen must decide which box she likes best on any given day. She lays here egg in there and the rest of them follow the leader. Never is there an egg in another box. They’re always in the same box.
These two girls got the urge at the same time and they both squeezed in there, neither willing to move to another nest. While I was standing out popped an egg from the hen that’s kinda standing up. They didn’t ask me but if they did, I think it’s kinda hot to be all snuggled up in the same box when there are three empty boxes just waiting for some action.
Just because they’re a team . . and they always stick together like glue . . when one goes into the coop, they all go into the coop. Look at Nosie Rosie looking out the window to make sure she doesn’t miss anything.
Chickens are so funny!
Jojo says
I love chickens!!! I could watch them all day:-) They have such funny, quirky personalities.
Judy D in WA says
My girls do the same thing. We have 6 boxes and they mainly use 2. I love that they are all friends! Nosie Rosie is gorgeous!!!
Diane in CA says
Would it make any difference if you knocked out a wall and made it a double wide box?
pdudgeon says
my grandparents had chickens when i was growing up. i remember going out to collect the eggs when i visited them. I don’t know the variety of chickens they had, but i seem to remember that they looked like standard chickens with white feathers and they layed white eggs. big help, i know!
I also remember that they had probably 12-18 chickens and about 6 nesting boxes. those chickens layed in multiple boxes, not all in just one box. maybe you could trick them into laying in multiple boxes by seeding the boxes with fake eggs.
Sharon Neuer says
Nice of them to leave them all in one place for you to gather instead of going to multiple boxes though!