how many nest boxs

2 would be good, in case you get one that's spends a lot of time in one of them, but you can get as many as 7 hens all trying to get into the same box!!!  They tend to have a favourite nest box.

In my layers shed there are 7 nest boxes, but the 20 girls only use 4 of them!

hi can anyone please help me, i have wanted chickens for years and last weekend came home to a coop and four beautiful birds, just a litle concerned as there is only two nest boxes in the house. do they need a nest box each? also the pen seems very small to me as they are rather large birds , but they have the run of half the garden  during the day also our fence is 5ft high and very secure the chickens have their wings clipped but could they still get over it , im very nervous about leaving them out whilst im at work ,  

There's no need for more than 1 box per 4 chx.  Their laying behaviour reflects their social flock behaviour.  They will try to lay a single clutch of eggs (depending on flock size) which would naturally be hatched by a single broody hen.  Hens don't hatch their own eggs it's a co-operative flock effort.

If you will be allowing them the run of the garden for say 4hrs a day the run attached to the house (which I assume is totally enclosed) needs to be a minimum of 2sq metres per pure breed largish (sussex size) hen, laying hybrids could be housed in a slightly smaller area and bantams around 1sq metre.

Keep your chx in the house and attached run for 48 hrs so they know where home is and let them out under observation initially but they should soon learn where home is and not wander too far.  The idea that chx want to "escape" like exotic cage birds is quite wrong.  They are quite territorial and only range within that territory where they feel safe.  Fences and hedges will often mark the extremes of that territory.  Chx will always return to their house to roost at night and hopefully lay their eggs in the day though they can and do lay in other places too if it takes their eye.

My hens don't have clipped wings and are housed within a 4 foot electric net and they don't stray outside it.  I have 4 runs with 8 to 10 birds of mixed breeds in each so it's obviously a system which works rather than just my particular birds.  Solid fences are more likely to be crossed as they will naturally want to fly up to perch on the fence and they can obviously fly down either side.  Clipping a single wing will unbalence them and deter them flying too far but it must be done correctly and is only moderately successful.  I suspect a 5 foot fence might well still be within their scope.  There's two alternative views on clipping.  Some people (and I'm one) prefer to not impede them as clipping reduces their ability to flee a preditor so can be more of a handicap than a benefit.   A wire top on the fence might be more successful a deterient as they can't perch on that.  It needn't be electrified but if it is you will need to have further advice on how to make it effective as it will need an earth and a hi tension wire if on top of a fence.  I would normall say not to clip until you have seen how they are getting on and then only do it as a last resort if other methods haven't worked.

What I'd be more concerned about are preditors and top of the list are foxes particularly in an urban environment if you are going to be leaving them during the day.  Only you will know if this is likely to be a local problem.  Minks are also a problem if present locally. Stoats and Cats are rarely a problem again depending on local conditions though some dogs can be.  Native raptors are only a problem with chicks and bantams and are rarely if ever an issue though escapees might be.

The size of the house can be a lot smaller than you might think and a 1m sq area can house upto 8 hens usually.  Perches and interior design is an important consideration which I won't expand on but there are lots of posts on here I suggest you should read.

HF