When building a nesting area for productive egg production, there are several things to keep in mind: security, comfort, ease of collection and weather resistance. In this article we will look at these four components and how they affect your egg production. First let's talk about security. Like humans, a chickens egg laying habits are highly affected by stress. Stress can be caused by a number of things for a chicken ranging from lack of food and water to predators like cats, dogs and large birds. Being mindful of a secure surrounding to keep your chickens in and predators out will produce strong egg habits. Once a chicken feels safe in its environment, a comfortable nest is the next priority. Nesting boxes vary from region to region based on climate but should always include ample space. While chickens often lay in the same location as one another, it is important to provide large nesting spots giving your chickens the ability to find the right spot for their eggs. Chickens lay eggs naturally, however hens will always seek safety for their chicks. Giving your chickens a secluded area away from feeding areas is vitally important. Hens will also seek locations with the high probability of successful during incubation. Providing your chickens with suitable nesting materials is also crucial. For best production, straw or hay make an ideal nesting material but fine fluffy sawdust will also work well for mature birds when straw is not available. As chicks, differentiating between bedding and food is difficult. If chicks ingest to much wood chips there is a high possibility of death. Your goal should be to collect eggs on a daily basis, so providing these safe environments will allow hens to lie more regularly.
Ease of collection should be designed with two purposes. First, you want to make it easy to collect your eggs but it is also important that you disturb our laying areas as little as possible. Again, minimize the stress of your hens at every opportunity. Depending on the style of nest you provide your hens, quick access to the laying areas is ideal. When using a box style nest with multiple nesting areas, a hinging roof that accessible from both sides makes for simple and easy collection. When using a more open style nest with single nesting areas, collection from the front works well.
Finally, protecting nesting areas from the elements is mandatory. Wet or cold laying areas will also cause stress for your chickens. Nesting areas that are covered by a good sturdy roof that can repel water eliminates that stress. In colder climates, the proper heat lamp is also advised to give your chickens a normalized nesting area. Security for nesting areas is primarily accomplished with construction of your chicken coop; however placing nests in less trafficked areas will add an additional measure of security.
Budget Considering each item discussed above there is no limit to how nice your chicken coop can become, however there is a minimum level of security and protection your flock requires. We previously discussed out budget factors in reference, let's review those items and explore them more thoroughly.
1. Number of chickens you seek to raise.
2. Space restrictions on your property
3. Aesthetics of your chicken coop
4. Type of chickens you purchase
5. Type of food and water containers
6. Type of food you purchase
7. Storage for supplies and feed
8. Type of nesting boxes
Number of Chickens The number of chickens you are seeking to raise is a great starting point when deciding how large to make your enclosure. To define the size of your flock you need to consider our goals. Are you raising chickens as a source of fresh eggs? How many people are depending on your egg production? Are you seeking eggs to compliment your current grocery bought eggs? How often does your family consume eggs? How large of an area do you have for your chicken coop? Considering on average, Americans consume about 254 eggs per year through various sources of foods; eggs in breads, pastas, sauces and plain are most common forms. If you are seeking fresh eggs as a means to eliminate store bought eggs for a healthier source of protein you must consider laying patterns. Chickens today can be expected to lay 300 eggs per year. To keep a full stock of fresh eggs for a family of four, a flock of four to six is a great place to start. Your flock will be easily manageable and will yield approximately 23 eggs per week.
Best Locations Depending on the size of your property, the best location for building your chicken coop is away from your home. The most obvious reason is smell, however other factors like contamination of water, attraction of bugs and low stress areas are other considerations. Keeping your flock away from water sources like outdoor faucets and sprinkler heads serve a dual purpose. First keeping your chickens coop and pen free from moisture minimizes opportunities for disease. Diseases can occur where moisture and unsanitary living conditions are present. Moisture increases these opportunities especially in nesting areas where salmonella can form on eggs. Moisture can also be displaced from the localized area of your pen to other areas of your property through seepage or draining. This may expose other pets and even humans for waste from your flock. Excess moisture can also attract bugs and encourage breakouts of parasites such as lice and mites. Reducing exposure to excess moisture provides a cleaner living space which ultimately will maintain strong egg production.
Chickens are also easily affected by stress. Placing your chickens away from children's play areas, family gathering areas and other pets will reduce these common stresses. Choosing an area sheltered from common predators is also ideal. Wild cats, raccoons, large predatory birds and dogs are the most common offenders of reducing flock size. Giving your chickens a space free from these concerns allows them live a more natural life.
Space Requirements After considering the several factors relevant to location and size of your flock our next factor is space. Healthy chickens need some space to freely move about their enclosure to carry out a more normal life. Ideally where space permits, having an enclosure approximately 144sq/ft is optimal for 15-20 birds. Doing the math, that gives us about 7.2 and 9.6 square feet per bird. If demand is greater than 20 birds, it is DIY suggestion to increase the size of your enclosure to accommodate your flock's growth. It is important for chickens to carry out natural behaviors like scratching, pecking and exercise to reduce issues like cannibalism. Because these are instinctual behaviors, chickens in a confined space will turn on one another as a means to carry out this behavior.
Nesting boxes vary in size and type so depending on the style you have selected, additional space to your pen may be needed. For individual nesting boxes with an open front, three or four units 20-24 inches in diameter is sufficient for 15-20 birds. An easy way to calculate how many nests you need is to figure 5 hens per nest. It is very common for chickens to lay eggs in the same location when roaming freely. For enclosed nesting boxes should also have several nesting areas measuring approximately 18-20 inches in size. However, these areas do not need to be divided into individual compartments. Allowing chickens space to freely enter and space to maneuver around each other is important. We will explore different styles and sizes of enclosed nesting boxes later in this article but having a space approximately 36 square feet is plenty of space.
Having appropriate storage space is also vital; however storage for supplies does not necessarily need to be attached to your chicken coop. Having space in your garage or shed to keep food and nesting materials like straw, hay or wood chips dry are alternate locations for storage. The simplest way to accomplish storage is with containers that can be sealed. Clean garbage cans or tubs make perfect containers that not only keep your supplies dry but also free from pests like mice and bugs. Proper storage will also decrease the time needed to maintain your chicken coop by keeping supplies organized.
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