What is chicken math

I hear the reference to it a lot.

So what is it?

Is it just the constant addition of chickens to the flock?

Nope, it's just a way we try and fool ourselves into justifying our flock's numbers. It's a really nice fun way to totally lie to yourself.

For example I'll use my flock.

I have 97 grown chickens right now plus about 35 chicks and over a hundred eggs in the incubator. So technically I have 97 + 35 or 132 chickens, and if you count the eggs due to hatch, that number climbs and will be over 200.

In chicken math the eggs don't count of course, because they are eggs, not chickens, therefore from over 200 just brought it down to 132. The chicks don't count because they are just chicks, so that brings it down to 97. Of these 97, 15 are rooster, everybody knows roosters don't count so now I'm down to 82 chickens. Ten of these are bantams which should only count as a half a chicken each because they are small, so now I'm down to 77 chickens. I have 18 that I'm going to trade off soon, so they shouldn't count should they? So now I've only got 59. Now there are 30 laying hens for sale, I'm sure they won't be here much longer so down to only 29 Chickens.

I'm not very good at chicken math, so an expert could probably trim a few more off those numbers somehow.

The thing is, those 29 chickens have already laid over 1200 eggs this month and ate over 900 pounds of feed.

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AND if you count them in dozens (round down!) everyone knows the chicken keeper's dozen is actually 16, not 12. If you order hatching eggs, a 'half dozen' will bring you eight eggs every time, so it must be true!
I have less than a dozen chickens. Especially if roo's dont count. Why then I only have just over half a dozen.

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Yup!

I suck horribly at math but chicken math I feel redeemed.

My husband thought 3 chicks would be more than enough for us. I wanted 10 so half of 10 is 5 plus his 3 is 8. I now have 8 chicks. That's chicken math.
However I'm thinking if I slipped in maybe 2 he wouldn't notice so technically thats still 8!

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.....or it's when I went into the tractor/farm store to JUST BUY ONE rake for gravel, heard the chicks and gave in and decided I HAD to have just three chicks and came out with:
2 americaunas, 1 leghorn, 1 production red, and 2 wyandottes

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hahaha is "BackYardChickens Forum math" the correct term to use when I'm trying to justify all the time I spend here......???

Well, I refer to BYC time as "Research".

So far my wife is buying it.....