How many new chickens do you get every year?

[Iluveggers]

I have 10 right now. Getting 5 next year. The max I’ve told myself is 16. Won’t get more until 2 from that group pass…then I would have room for 3. I only want to try integrating new chicks in groups of 3 or more. They will all be allowed to live out their lives even after they stop laying. I will continue to add groups of 3+ when the number of hens drops to 13 or lower at any point during the winter or spring.

If I didn’t set a limit for myself, I would probably want to add 6 every year. I can’t have roosters in my neighborhood so I have to set limits.

Luckily I get some of my chicken fix by hatching for other family members and some nearby friends. Have 2 hatches planned, one to test out the fertility of a family members eggs (added a few cockerels this year so we will see if they do their jobs), and some quail for another family member (she will take all that hatch, DS is going to give hatching a try with my assistance).

Chicken math is real…I would probably have 100 birds if we had lots more land!

 

[JuliaSunshine]

I have 10 right now. Getting 5 next year. The max I’ve told myself is 16. Won’t get more until 2 from that group pass…then I would have room for 3. I only want to try integrating new chicks in groups of 3 or more. They will all be allowed to live out their lives even after they stop laying. I will continue to add groups of 3+ when the number of hens drops to 13 or lower at any point during the winter or spring.

If I didn’t set a limit for myself, I would probably want to add 6 every year. I can’t have roosters in my neighborhood so I have to set limits.

Luckily I get some of my chicken fix by hatching for other family members and some nearby friends. Have 2 hatches planned, one to test out the fertility of a family members eggs (added a few cockerels this year so we will see if they do their jobs), and some quail for another family member (she will take all that hatch, DS is going to give hatching a try with my assistance).

Chicken math is real…I would probably have 100 birds if we had lots more land!

I'm glad you can have fun hatching eggs. Chicks are always darn cute

I wish I could keep my chickens after they stop laying too. At least I'll keep the one chicken that my family like the most until the end. She has such a bold and funny personality and lays the best.
I'm still deciding how many chickens I'll keep in total. It'll be between 6 to 12.

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

I have 10 right now. Getting 5 next year. The max I’ve told myself is 16. Won’t get more until 2 from that group pass…then I would have room for 3. I only want to try integrating new chicks in groups of 3 or more. They will all be allowed to live out their lives even after they stop laying. I will continue to add groups of 3+ when the number of hens drops to 13 or lower at any point during the winter or spring.

If I didn’t set a limit for myself, I would probably want to add 6 every year. I can’t have roosters in my neighborhood so I have to set limits.

Luckily I get some of my chicken fix by hatching for other family members and some nearby friends. Have 2 hatches planned, one to test out the fertility of a family members eggs (added a few cockerels this year so we will see if they do their jobs), and some quail for another family member (she will take all that hatch, DS is going to give hatching a try with my assistance).

Chicken math is real…I would probably have 100 birds if we had lots more land!

In NY how early in the year do you plan a hatch so that they reach POL, establish a good repro system with good egg production before winter (shorter days)? Depends on breed of course but my chicks hatched in April and by Oct were not yet ‘regular’ layers.

 

[Iluveggers]

In NY how early in the year do you plan a hatch so that they reach POL, establish a good repro system with good egg production before winter (shorter days)? Depends on breed of course but my chicks hatched in April and by Oct were not yet ‘regular’ layers.

We had a few from June hatches start in November this year, & a couple July hatches last year actually started in December! I am off work during the summer so I prefer to wait so I can be home with the littles all day.

 

[Mrs. K]

I think you are being too exact. There is not perfect plan, too many variables. The easiest way of reducing your feed bill, is reducing your numbers... but that is a trade off with less eggs.

In the summer, when egg production is high, freeze extra eggs or store in lime. These work fine for baking, and you can use your occasional fresh eggs for breakfast.

Once in a while I will get a favorite - usually a good broody hen, and she stays til the end.

You can cheat in the summer time with numbers, the nights are short, chicks are small and take up less space, but come the winter, you need to take a good hard look at your set up, and reduce the flock to fit the coop you HAVE for the long nights of winter.

So my numbers vary greatly through the year. Currently I am at 6 hens and a rooster for the winter. 5 are pullets and NOT laying well, which is a bugger. But that is how life happens. A predator, a broody hen, numbers change.

Mrs K

 

[Alanzs]

I raise day olds and sell them on as pullets. I'm figuring a bit over 2,000 -2,4000 chicks this year. Business is almost all word of mouth, so it's not a lot of work. WOO HOO, LOVE THEM CHICKENS!

 

[Chickenlover2009]

I'm wondering how people manage their flock keeping the good ratio between young and older hens.
Chicken feed is expensive here in Canada (28CAD, for 20kg) and I have limited coop space. So I want to replace older chickens with new ones efficiently while maintaining the same flock size.
I'm thinking of retiring 2 year old hens before their 2nd molting (either by selling or giving away).
I have 10 hens and one rooster who were born this year. They are dual purpose heritage breed, Light Sussex. They supposedly lay in the winter, but I noticed they're laying less already.
I'm wondering how many new pullets I should get next spring and how many of the current hens I should sell before the next fall to maintain the same flock size.
How about the following year?
What is a good ratio between new pullets and 1 year old and 2 year olds to maximize egg production and save money on feed? All equal or more 1 year olds than pullets? Is it worth keeping 2 year old hens?

So what our family does is my dad usually gets about fifteen to twenty chicks for laying eggs, and I get about six of my own.
Every one to two years we butcher about 5 to ten of our poultry to keep the "population down".
If you have about eleven right now, you could keep the ratio of new birds to older ones about 1 to 1, so half older and half newer. So maybe give away/sell half of your older ones, leaving about six and get about six to ten more. Depending on the size of your coop that might be an option.
This is just kind of what we do, so don't feel like this is absolutely what you have to do. Read the other replies and figure out what works best for you.

Best of luck,
Chickenlover2009

 

[Japsgalore]

I get around 2-10 every year. The number depends on certain things though like for example if our existing flock gets attacked by predators and we need to get more chooks etc.

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

I'm wondering how people manage their flock keeping the good ratio between young and older hens.
Chicken feed is expensive here in Canada (28CAD, for 20kg) and I have limited coop space. So I want to replace older chickens with new ones efficiently while maintaining the same flock size.
I'm thinking of retiring 2 year old hens before their 2nd molting (either by selling or giving away).
I have 10 hens and one rooster who were born this year. They are dual purpose heritage breed, Light Sussex. They supposedly lay in the winter, but I noticed they're laying less already.
I'm wondering how many new pullets I should get next spring and how many of the current hens I should sell before the next fall to maintain the same flock size.
How about the following year?
What is a good ratio between new pullets and 1 year old and 2 year olds to maximize egg production and save money on feed? All equal or more 1 year olds than pullets? Is it worth keeping 2 year old hens?

aw I wish you were in my province, I'd happily adopt your retired ladies!

 

[JuliaSunshine]

I think you are being too exact. There is not perfect plan, too many variables. The easiest way of reducing your feed bill, is reducing your numbers... but that is a trade off with less eggs.

In the summer, when egg production is high, freeze extra eggs or store in lime. These work fine for baking, and you can use your occasional fresh eggs for breakfast.

Once in a while I will get a favorite - usually a good broody hen, and she stays til the end.

You can cheat in the summer time with numbers, the nights are short, chicks are small and take up less space, but come the winter, you need to take a good hard look at your set up, and reduce the flock to fit the coop you HAVE for the long nights of winter.

So my numbers vary greatly through the year. Currently I am at 6 hens and a rooster for the winter. 5 are pullets and NOT laying well, which is a bugger. But that is how life happens. A predator, a broody hen, numbers change.

Mrs K

Yes, now I have a few hens that are not doing as well as others in terms of health and egg laying, I see the point of reducing my flock before the winter comes.
Thank you for your advice.