What number of rooster nest packing containers you want in your coop relies upon partly on the variety of hens in your flock. A second issue is whether or not or not your hens one of many high laying breeds. Listed here are some tips for figuring out the perfect variety of nests on your particular flock.
How Many Nests
The rule of thumb is to furnish one nest for each 4 to 5 hens in your flock. However when you have solely 4 or 5 hens, offering two nests provides them a selection. It additionally helps forestall crowding when two hens need to lay on the identical time.
Every hen typically chooses her favourite nest. So that you’ll typically see the identical hen all the time laying in the identical nest. If one other hen beats her to it, she would possibly attempt to crowd in. Or she would possibly stand in entrance of the nest she desires and fuss on the hen that’s in it. Or she would possibly transfer to a different nest.
Having correctly designed nests which are all alike helps cut back squabbles over which one is finest, assuming you furnish sufficient of them. If, for instance, you might have six or eight hens, furnish at the least two nests; three is best. For 10 to 12 hens, present at the least three.
Too Many Nests
Putting in one nest for each hen in your flock is overkill. Even among the many finest layers, not all of the hens are going to put on the identical time and even on the identical day.
Too many nests take up pointless house. And so they invite loitering within the nests as a substitute of coming into to put after which leaving. Plus you’ll have extra work cleansing out and changing nesting materials from unneeded nests.
Even while you decide what number of rooster nest packing containers you want given your flock dimension, hens would possibly nonetheless pile into one nest to put. In case you add extra nests, the hens might ignore the brand new ones, preferring to put within the authentic nest.
Take a important look to see if the nest they like is a special design, or is in a greater place, than the others. In any other case, possibly your hens are simply particularly social and like cozying up collectively.
Too Few Nests
When a coop has too few nests, a hen with an pressing want to put an egg might not be keen to attend her flip. If she crowds into an occupied nest, eggs might get trampled and damaged. And damaged eggs result in egg consuming, a behavior that’s exhausting to interrupt.
Or, as a substitute of crowding right into a nest, typically a hen loses persistence and lays her egg on the ground. Eggs laid on the ground could be exhausting to search out. Typically they get damaged. And more often than not they get soiled. These are good causes for furnishing nests within the first place.
Even should you comply with the rules of offering at the least one nest per 4 or 5 hens, you may need too few in case your hens are of the finest layer breeds that lay eggs almost daily. In that case, furnishing a number of greater than the usual variety of nests per hen will cut back ready time and conflicts.
And that’s as we speak’s information from the Cackle Coop.
Gail Damerow is the creator of Storey’s Information to Elevating Chickens.
