If you want your hens to lay where you want them to, you should provide them with a nest box that a chicken will think is the perfect place to leave her egg. This is especially true if you allow your chickens to free range or have access to the garden. The better nest box you provide for her, the more likely she will lay where you want her to. So what does a chicken find an appealing place to lay her eggs?
Well it needs to be the right size. That’s just big enough for hen to fit into cosily. Hens will lay in larger boxes, but they prefer nests that are just right. Don’t forget the height – you might think a hen sits down in the nest to lay her egg, and she does for quite a while, but she stands up to actually lay, so her give a bit of head room.

Ideally chickens prefer a nest with a narrow entrance. In fact studies have shown that a triangular entrance is the most popular! Who knew? So those pampered chickens who get curtains in front of their nest box really do like them.

Line the inside of the box with some nesting material to protect the egg from breaking but also to give her something to wriggle into a bowl shape and snuggle down into, preferably something she can rearrange with her beak. Chopped straw is good. Shredded paper is inclined to stick to the eggs when they are wet from being freshly laid. Whatever you use, make sure it doesn’t go mouldy or harbour mites or fungi.

Put a threshold at the front of the box to keep the nesting material in, or she will rearrange it right out of the box.

A high threshold also helps to hide the hen from passing chickens. Hens prefer a secluded nest box away from the hoi polloi of chicken life.

They prefer it to be a little dark – another good reason for those curtains.

How high it is isn’t terribly important, although again if it’s off the floor a bit that helps keep the nest from being in full view of passing chickens. But make sure the nest box is lower than the perch that they sleep on at night, or you’ll have them sleeping in the nest instead of on the perch. Chickens make a lot of chicken poo during the night – you don’t want those lovely eggs laid into a pile of chicken poo.

She’ll happily jump up to her nest box of choice as long as it’s secure and not wobbly.

Keep it clean. Chickens don’t like nests that are smelly or infested with insects. Remember the original chicken plan is to lay a clutch of eggs and then sit on the nest for 21 days until they hatch out, so she’s looking for a clean, safe and secure cradle for her future baby chicks.

How many should you have? In theory about one nest for every five hens – you don’t need one for each hen.

As far as the chickens are concerned, your nest boxes don’t need to have a roof – you can use an open box or basket, but many nest box designs are closed in from above. If yours do have a roof, make sure it’s either too steep or too slippery for them to perch on, again because you don’t want chicken poo falling into the nest and fouling the eggs.

Young pullets are especially inclined to think the nest box is for sleeping in. Some fancy nest box designs have a flip up bar to close them off and keep pullets out at night. But you can just block them up with a board or fill them up with something like empty egg cartons. When I have pullets, I just put a bucket in my nest boxes late in the afternoon after all the hens have laid for the day – the buckets are easy to slip out again once it’s properly dark and the chickens are all asleep.

And that’s another good reason for including external access to the nest boxes. If you don’t have to go inside the chicken house to get the eggs or remove the blocker, you can collect the eggs in your evening wear if you want, or even your nightwear!

So there you have it – ten top tips for a nest box that any chicken will think is just the perfect place to lay her egg, and that you will find easy to look after and a joy every day when you collect those yummy eggs.


For more fascinating facts, hints and tips about caring for your chickens, and the sheer pleasure of chickens, subscribe to my channel: Chickens in my garden - New Zealand
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