My daughter picked out a Blue Cochin too! My total amount of chickens would be 62 with all the new ones coming BUT I did have to order 3 breeds in st run so I figured there will be some extra roosters we won't be keeping. I am guessing with the chick loss and extra roos we will get between 25-30 hens out of 44 to add to my flock of 25 hens. I like the dual purpose birds. DH is going over the thought of getting strictly meat birds to add to the freezer for winter. I think we may give it a try later this year. We have never hatched eggs out incubator or broody as we have only had chickens 8+ months but I think I might prefer the broody hen method. I can't wait to learn more about that in the future! I am getting so excited for the chicks to arrive. I will spend the day today and tomorrow getting everything all ready!Your family sounds like mine. We were only going to add 5 dual purpose breeds. Before we ordered we had to chop it down to 35. We will end up with 72+ birds by the spring. My youngest is getting his first chick this year. He wanted a Blue Cochin and a Buff Laced Brahma. Mcmurray only carries one of those, so he got the BC. Amici Mei (is what he named her) will be here in less than 2 weeks. He is super excited. I love this! Next year we will hatch more and start more meat birds Instead of ordering so much.