I致e had chickens for 10 years. I have metal boxes, with roosts. I mounted the boxes low, in the dark corner. I put wooden eggs in a couple of boxes. They will naturally lay together if they can. I致e had up to 40 layers, and a 10 hole nest box. They might lay 40 eggs in maybe 6 or 7 holes. I use pine shavings for the boxes, and for the floor. You should have a calcium source, and grit for the birds. I built roosts with slide out trays to catch the poo. Chickens can be creative, they find weird ways to die. I致e found that the best layers are the most aggressive foragers, going further from the coop than others. And getting picked off by predators more often. The fat, lazy birds don稚 get killed much, but don稚 lay well either. They best layers seem to just die earlier than the fat girls. After 2 years, egg production is pretty much done.
