Normal Flock Size?

[Sylvester017]

My bantam Americana (think breeder got originals from murrey mcmurrey), are great free rangers, layers of med a colorful egg day by hens, they brood own young if leave too many eggs in a nest, roos guard hens well but hens have small spurs to defend selves and each other too. Roos are pretty meaty for for totally free range birds not fed except when completely bare land that hasn't happened yet.

one hen had a hawk over double her size on ground not letting it get its wing, after hawk was evaded by another hen that had attacked it until lead hen got there (lead gamey type hen scares rest when she screams), which fought and bloodied it till the hawk was too exausted to lift its wings stooping holding self up by wings heaving for breath (hen was bleeding from mouth with chipped beak and lost two or three nails). naturally wary but learn quickly if that i am provider of treats and pets, but sound alarm if anyone else comes around.

I'm in east tn, noticing most hobby to med level poultry keepers in general area who care about animals are from NC TX or FL.

starter flock size is two to three hens, or five to eight, ten to fifteen. with one roo for every eight to twelve hens if want total fertility. i find one main roo with two to three sub roos to him, will make great sentinels as lower roos are taking that job more seriously for lf chooks that need more time to run and hide, two to three sub roos or cockerels full of fight will take on and kill a hawk they can get above and/or ground (I've seen many times), and I've had to save many a pathetic downed hawk from my games.

What a great story. I was thinking about bantam Ameraucanas because we love our LF APA Ameraucana.

Your game birds sound great too!

I think Murray McMurray's Americanas are properly called Easter Eggers but both breeds are similar except that the American Poultry Association (APA) only identifies certain Standard of Perfection (SOP) guidelines to identify pure Ameraucanas (I believe there are only 8 recognized APA colors) and hatcheries do not carry purebred "Ameraucanas" - they can only be obtained from private and show breeders only. Hatcheries identify their Easter Eggers as Ameraucanas or Americanas and sometimes Araucanas but these hatchery birds are still just Easter Eggers and not a recognized breed - however Easter Eggers are extremely popular and a very good layer and good-natured. Anyway, the EEs are related to Ameraucana and I am satisfied that the bantam breed is a good choice to own - especially after your wonderful story.

As for NC TX or FL for breeders. I have researched and found breeders all over the mid-West like TN KY WV VA IA IL OH MO WI MN and on the West Coast like OR CA AZ CO UT etc. It takes quite a bit of detective work and research but there are some quality breeders all over the USA. As for hatcheries there are maybe around top 10 or so that offer a wide variety of breeds and several limited hatcheries that deal mostly in commercial production breeds only. Depends on what you are looking for.

 

[Utard]

I was thinking about bantam Ameraucanas

Thats the funniest thing. I was just visiting my neighbors at my new place and they have one of those. It was the funniest little thing. As big as a roosters thigh. lol Like pigeon size.

The daughter was just holding it and it hopped on her shoulder. All the other chickens went running off but this little guy just hung around our feet while we talked. It was like a little puppy. She said the eggs are about the size of a regular chickens egg yolk.

 

[Sylvester017]

Thats the funniest thing. I was just visiting my neighbors at my new place and they have one of those. It was the funniest little thing. As big as a roosters thigh. lol Like pigeon size.

The daughter was just holding it and it hopped on her shoulder. All the other chickens went running off but this little guy just hung around our feet while we talked. It was like a little puppy. She said the eggs are about the size of a regular chickens egg yolk.

Bantams ARE cute. I wasn't so sure about having to deal with their notorious reputation for going broody too often but after having our Silkies for 3 years I'm amazed at how friendly, tame, sweet they are and in addition how hardy and alert they are about predators in the free-range backyard. We have an established regimen to deal with their 3-4 week broodiness (no eggs layed) and another 3-4 weeks before they resume laying after a broody session.

Our Silkie eggs are 1.25 oz and occasionally a 1.5 oz egg and yes, the yolks in them are the size of our Buff Leghorn yolks who lays 2.0 oz eggs. It's amazing the big size of bantam eggs for the size of bird. That's why I don't mind when they take a rest to brood to give their body a chance to recover from a session of laying such big eggs.

 

[Turk Raphael]

I started with a flock of 150 day old chicks and 14 ducklings. It was quite the learning curve, but I only lost 3 in the brooders and 3 more to the neighbors dog before butchering time. I am now down to 60 laying hens and 6 roosters that are housed in a 6 X 20 ft stock trailer for winter. I would not recommend jumping into the deep end like this for everyone, but I have the space and time, so if I'm going to do something, I don't mess around much. I have some modifications to my system to make and much more to learn, but with the info on BYC and some help from the good Lord, all will work out fine.

60 hens and 6 roosters sounds reasonable....jamming the lot in a 6 X 20 Ft stock trailer sounds more than bit crowded, even if they are bantams. I think you might want to look for larger living quarters to keep the birds healthy...Just some friendly advice.

Turk

 

[Turk Raphael]

I've read that if the flock gets bigger than about 20 individuals, the chickens won't be able to remember every flock member, which can be stressful to the chickens… Is this true?

NO! Not True!

 

[Daniel Bartel]

I currently have 12 laying hens and 6 three week old chicks. In three weeks I want to get six more chicks to raise. I have a run that is 200 square feet and a big coup. Is it okay to double the size of my flock like that? I know 24 is the most I should have with the size of my run, but should I double the size of my flock in about seven weeks?

 

[Phoenixxx]

I currently have 12 laying hens and 6 three week old chicks. In three weeks I want to get six more chicks to raise. I have a run that is 200 square feet and a big coup. Is it okay to double the size of my flock like that? I know 24 is the most I should have with the size of my run, but should I double the size of my flock in about seven weeks?

Try it and see. The amount of clean-up you wind up having to do will tell you. If the birds free-range at all during the day, then your numbers can go up as high as what the roosts in your coop will hold per night. Of course, in winter under snow cover that figure will then reduce again. The numbers is kind of a trial and error thing, you won't know until you actually try. And if you walk into the coop and have to hold your nose - definitely too many. I built my coop to house 1 to 2 dozen comfortably but have had 4 dozen in there easy with just a bit of extra cleaning, etc. And my runs (2 of them) are 50' of chicken wire each wrapped around through trees, so i probably have about 2-300 square feet in runs. But i free-range when home when the land is good.

 

[Daniel Bartel]

Thank you for the help! However, I am wondering if there are any issues with doubling the size of my flock. Should you only add a few each year or can I add many in just one?

 

[Phoenixxx]

Thank you for the help! However, I am wondering if there are any issues with doubling the size of my flock. Should you only add a few each year or can I add many in just one?

I am probably not the one to ask in that regard. I just go get birds and toss 'em in - breaks all the rules, lol! One time i added someone's flock of 22 they were giving away to my existing 30 birds - just threw 'em in, roosters and all, and no problems because everyone in both flocks already had their owns cliques so it worked out quite well. The only time i had trouble was bringing 4 roosters home (for dog food), and between them and my orp/brahma roo the fighting was like nothing i'd ever seen before. Naturally, i had to separate.

But as for your question, based on my experience, the bigger the group of additions the easier it seems to be. Adding just one or two leaves them as potential bullying victims; sometimes they are okay, others they're not, just depends on the characters of the existing birds.

 

[sheetmetaltom]

I currently have 12 laying hens and 6 three week old chicks. In three weeks I want to get six more chicks to raise. I have a run that is 200 square feet and a big coup. Is it okay to double the size of my flock like that? I know 24 is the most I should have with the size of my run, but should I double the size of my flock in about seven weeks?

try putting them in at night. thats what i do.adding them in the dark seems to keep the fighting and harassment down for me. in a month ill be adding 8 12 week olds to my flock of 8 chickens and ill put them in in the dark. ive done it this way twice before and it worked well