Stage 4 — week 16 and up
Size, count and height. Two of the three are published by an extension service and the third is set by what nest pads are made to.
By Scooter M.·Published September 1, 2026
The short answer
Twelve to fourteen inches square is the working range for standard breeds, which is why nest pads are made to a 13-inch standard. University of Maryland Extension publishes one nest per four to five birds, mounted 18 to 20 inches off the floor and placed on the ground at first until pullets get used to them.
| Measure | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Box footprint, standard breeds | 12 to 14 in square | The de facto standard the 13 in nest pad market is built around |
| Boxes per flock | One nest per 4 to 5 birds | University of Maryland Extension |
| Mounting height | 18 to 20 in off the floor | University of Maryland Extension |
| Initial placement | On the ground until pullets get accustomed, then secured firmly | University of Maryland Extension |
| Relative to roost | Always below roost height | Behavioral — hens sleep on the highest surface |
We are labeling the box footprint honestly. We could not find a square-inch figure published by an extension service, and rather than repeat one of the several circulating unsourced numbers we are pointing at the thing that is genuinely evidential: the entire nest pad market is standardized at 13 by 13 inches, which tells you what commercial box makers actually build to.
| Birds | Boxes at 1 per 4 | Boxes at 1 per 5 |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | 2 | 2 |
| 8 | 2 | 2 |
| 10 | 3 | 2 |
| 12 | 3 | 3 |
| 15 | 4 | 3 |
The 12 to 14 inch range is for standard breeds. Bantams are comfortable in a smaller box, around 10 inches, though they will happily use a standard one. Very large breeds — Jersey Giants, Brahmas — genuinely want more, closer to 14 or 15 inches square, and a standard box for a large bird means a cramped hen and dirtier eggs.
If your flock is mixed, build to the largest bird. A small hen in a large box is fine; a large hen in a small box is not.
The published 18 to 20 inches is not arbitrary. Too low and the box is at the level of scratched-up litter and gets fouled. Too high and it competes with the roost — and this is the one to watch, because chickens instinctively sleep on the highest available surface. A nest box mounted above the roost bar becomes where they sleep, and a nest box that is slept in is full of droppings by morning.
The rule is simple: nest boxes below the roost, always. If you have a coop where the boxes are high, raise the roost rather than lowering the boxes.
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A backyard-sized box, the pads it takes, and the larger version for a bigger flock.
Best Nest Box
24 x 19.5 x 20 in
The same roll-out mechanism in a two-foot box, which is the version that actually fits a backyard coop rather than a commercial layer house.
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Precision Pet
13 x 13 in
Aspen excelsior fibers on a kraft-paper backing at a standard 13 by 13 inches, which is the size nearly every nest box is built around and the reason these are the default.
#ad No live price feed yet, so no number is shown rather than a stale one. How this is funded.
Best Nest Box
35.9 x 21 x 19.75 in
A sloped-floor box that rolls the egg away from the hen into a protected tray, which stops the two problems that ruin eggs in a nest box: dirt and the hen that learns to eat them.
#ad No live price feed yet, so no number is shown rather than a stale one. How this is funded.
12 to 14 inches square is the working range for standard breeds. The clearest evidence for it is that the nest pad market is standardized at 13 by 13 inches, which is what commercial box makers build to. Bantams are comfortable smaller; very large breeds want closer to 14 or 15 inches.
18 to 20 inches, published by University of Maryland Extension, and always below the roost. Chickens sleep on the highest available surface, so a nest box mounted above the roost bar becomes a bedroom and is full of droppings by morning.
Two, at the published ratio of one nest per four to five birds. Providing more rarely changes anything, because hens tend to decide collectively that one particular box is correct and queue for it while the others sit unused.
Yes, three or four inches at the front. Without one, bedding gets scratched out onto the coop floor and eggs can roll out after them. A sloped rather than flat top is also worth having, because a flat top at a reachable height becomes a roost and the birds foul the nest below it.
Every figure cited on this page came from one of these documents. If one of them has changed since we read it, the number here is out of date and we would like to know.
Nest boxes, roll-out designs, pads and sizing, plus what changes in the feed when the first egg arrives.
Nest boxes on published dimensions, with the one-per-four-to-five-birds ratio that decides how many you need.
Why loose nest bedding fails, what the standard 13-inch pad fits, and the alternatives that work.
Floor space, run, roost and nest boxes by flock size, from published extension figures — plus the check applied to real coops.
How a sloped-floor nest box removes egg eating as a possibility, and the level-mounting requirement people miss.