One box for every four to six hens is ideal for your hens to feel comfortable laying in them. Paradoxically, too many nest boxes will cause hens to use them to sleep and defecate in but less likely to lay eggs in them.

Will laying hens share a nesting box?

Chickens can and do share nesting boxes, some quite amicably and some with plenty of squabbling. Below: A queue for the nesting box. If you have too few you risk nest wars, fighting and possible broken eggs.

Do chickens need nesting boxes to lay eggs?

Chickens are biologically designed to lay eggs. Hens who are left loose to fend for themselves, or who escape from the coop and receive no human care, still lay eggs so long as they are healthy and can find enough food. A healthy hen doesn't need a rooster, a coop, a nesting box or anything else to produce eggs.