Nesting Box Dimensions for Chickens

The nesting box dimensions for chickens come down to three numbers. Build each nest at least 12 inches wide and 12 inches deep (Penn State Extension), mount it at least 2 feet off the ground, and plan two nests for the first four hens plus one more for every four hens after that. This page shows how those numbers play out for bantams and big birds, how to count boxes for your flock, and a cut list for a three-box unit. It sits in the coop gear hub, next to Kyle’s nesting box picks if you would rather buy than build.

Nesting box size by hen type

Build every nest at least 12 by 12 inches inside. That is Penn State’s floor for chickens, and the other guidance lands within a couple of inches of it.

Bigger is not better past about 14 inches. A box roomy enough for two hens gets two hens, and they climb over each other and the eggs, so one broken egg smears the clean ones around it. A 12 by 12 by 12 cube suits standard breeds; go larger only for giants such as Jersey Giants and Brahmas (Ask Extension).

Height is the loosest number. Penn State gives none for the nest, My Pet Chicken calls for cubes, and another Facebook group thread lists boxes 18 to 20 inches tall. Build 12 inches tall for standard hens and 14 inches for heavy breeds. The cut list below uses 12.

Ready-made boxes list their outside size, and some seller pages leave the inside space blank. Check the inside against the 12 by 12 minimum before you pay. The nesting box picks flag every box where the inside size is missing.

Can you use a crate or bin as a nesting box?

Yes, if the inside meets the 12 by 12 inch minimum. Grass catchers, old tree pots, cat carriers and milk crates are popular stand-ins (Facebook group thread), and so are plastic bins and wooden boxes (another thread).

Measure the inside of any container before you mount it. A bin that comes up short on depth fails the same rule a built box does. Add a lip taller than 2 inches so it holds the bedding, and mount it at least 2 feet up like any other nest.

How many nesting boxes per chicken?

Plan two nests for the first four hens, then one more nest for every four hens after that. That is the Penn State Extension rule for chickens, and it works out to roughly one box for every four hens in a bigger flock.

For a flock between those numbers, round up. The math for 50 hens: two boxes for the first four, then 46 more hens at one box per four, which rounds up to 12, so 14 in all. For 100 hens it is two plus 24, so 26.

The eXtension guidance is looser: one nest for every five hens prevents an increase in floor eggs. Build to the higher Penn State count anyway. An extra box costs a few dollars of plywood, and a short count means eggs on the floor. Five boxes will not help if all 25 hens try to lay in the same one or two, so keep every box dark, quiet and equally inviting.

A keeper asking about 18 future hens on r/BackYardChickens gets six boxes from the Penn State rule: two for the first four hens, then 14 more hens, which is three groups of four plus two left over, so four more nests.

Hens crowd into the same boxes at the busy laying hour, so a short count shows fast. Too few boxes means eggs piling up in the favorite nest, and crowded nests are where eggs break and hens learn to eat them. The Penn State count is the safer target for a backyard flock.

If you are buying a whole coop, count the nests in the listing against this table before you check out. The chicken coop kits roundup is the place to compare kits.

Height and placement

Mount nests at least 2 feet off the ground and at least 4 feet from the roosts, in a darker, secluded spot. Never put them across from bright sunny windows or near high-traffic areas (Penn State).

Then work from the other direction: set nests lower than the lowest roosting pole, so the roost, not the box, is the high spot. Together the two rules fix the order of the build. Set the roost bars first, above 2 feet, then place the boxes lower than the lowest bar and 4 feet away.

In a small coop, 4 feet of separation from the roosts is hard to find. Put the nests on the wall opposite the roosts and use the length of the coop. Give every raised nest a perch or landing ledge at the entry. Heavy breeds struggle to jump much above 18 inches, so add a short ramp for big hens (University of Georgia).

Mount the boxes above the hens’ eye level, so birds walking past cannot peer in at the eggs and loiter. Face them away from the morning sun, because hens choose the boxes the sunbeams are not hitting. Darker boxes get used more, which matches Penn State’s advice.

Put a slanted roof over the boxes so hens cannot roost on top and drop manure in front of the nests. If hens start sleeping in the nests, hinge a perch board along the front and flip it up when you collect eggs in the evening. The boxes stay closed overnight and stay clean.

Swipe sideways to see the whole figure, or open it full size.

Cut list for a 3-box build

A three-nest unit with 12 by 12 by 12 inch openings fits in one 4 by 8 foot sheet of plywood with room to spare. The parts below use 3/4 inch plywood and add up to about 14 square feet of the sheet’s 32.

The sizes are arithmetic from the 12 inch minimum, not a build log. Width is 3 openings × 12 inches plus four panel thicknesses (two ends and two dividers), so 36 + 3 = 39 inches.

The finished unit measures 39 inches wide, 13.5 inches tall and 12.75 inches deep. With thinner plywood, use the same formula: the width is 36 inches plus four panel thicknesses, and the back is 12 inches plus two thicknesses tall.

Mark the panel positions on the back before you glue anything. Measured from the left edge of the back, with 3/4 inch plywood, each panel sits here:

Each opening runs 12 inches between faces: 0.75 to 12.75, 13.5 to 25.5 and 26.25 to 38.25.

Check screw length wherever a screw goes into thin framing next to a nest. Switch to shorter screws on the dividers so no tip pokes through the framing into a hen. Run a board across the front of the whole unit at the height of the floor litter, so shavings stay out of the nests.

Glue every joint, drill a pilot hole for every screw and countersink the heads. Plywood splits when a screw runs close to an edge without a pilot hole, and split wood is the most common complaint on DIY nest box builds.

Fit the boxes with the bedding and routine that go with the size. Keep 2 inches of clean, dry nesting material in the nests at all times as egg padding (eXtension), and collect eggs twice a day (Penn State). A lip taller than 2 inches keeps that bedding in, and a taller one works better: a low lip lets hens scratch the bedding out, while a tall one stops the scratching and gives the hen more privacy. Use bedding hens will not eat. Straw often carries leftover grain heads, and a hen picking at those scratches instead of laying.

How do you get hens to lay in the nesting boxes?

Set the boxes up before the pullets start laying, and put a fake egg in each one. Kansas State trains pullets to nests in five steps: keep the nests easy to reach, pick up floor eggs often and put them in the nests, block the floor spots hens are using, add artificial eggs, and move pullets into the laying coop before they start to lay. Give pullets a couple of weeks to investigate the boxes first. A hen that starts laying elsewhere is hard to retrain, and empty nests with no litter push hens to lay on the floor (UGA).

Use one ceramic egg per box, in a color your hens do not lay, so you never mix up the fake with the real thing. Have every box built, bedded and baited when the pullets start poking their heads in, a few weeks before the first eggs.

14:59

Checklist before you drill

Written by Kyle

Kyle has kept backyard chickens on his own small farm for five years. He reads the extension research, the spec sheets and the owner complaints, then tells you what he would buy and what he would skip.

About KyleHow we research