What's your flock size to rotation strategy

[Doc7]

Been at this a few years now and after a rough winter/spring in the egg supply department, I'm reconsidering how I do it. Costs of chicks plus shipping drives egg prices through the roof but I do like having my own chickens for many reasons and "cheap eggs" isn't one of them. If I was OK just buying piles of chicks from tractor supply it'd be no problem but I love ordering a variety of breeds from Meyer hatchery each year and at 3-5 chicks per order it makes each chick cost quite a bit more than the "$3" list price!

Like many chicken keepers I started off with a flock of 6 in spring and that winter, spring, summer, had more eggs than I could eat! I like to eat 2 hardboiled eggs per day and my wife likes to eat 1. We were able to do that, AND feed kids eggs for breakfast, do our baking, and give away eggs to neighbors and friends.

The following spring (2019) I expanded the coop to the dimensions of adding 3 more birds. So that brought us to this past winter. With my 3 new birds laying - a leghorn, golden buff (red sex link), and Dominique we had enough eggs to feed kids breakfast and bake but stopped hardboiling eggs. I haven't hardboiled eggs since last October. Even though my coop is sized for 9 it is pretty clear to me I have to sacrifice my "2 hardboiled eggs a day" habit even if I keep up what was my original plan of "Add 3 Chicks In Spring, Eat 3 Hens in Fall" keeping a set of 2 year olds, set of 1 year olds, and new up and comers in groups of 3 for my flock of 9.

I am pushing it right now and my flock is growing to 11 - I have 4 hens (1 year olds and one last 2 year old that hasn't been eaten yet), 4 chicks that are integrated with the flock and now on June 1 i will be adding 3 more day old chicks. This will give me OODLES of eggs this winter (I plan to eat at least the 2.5 year old this fall, and maybe my worst performing 1.5 year old, to get back to the design coop size population) but I don't think I will be able to add chicks in the spring unless I eat all 3 of my 1.5 year olds this fall and that seems like a waste of a good chicken.

So anyway. My coop is designed for 9 with the 4 sq ft coop and 10 sq ft run, I will be covering the run this year to keep it dryer, and they have free open coop to predator proof run access 24/7/365 so I am ok pushing it to 10 hens from my 9 design. 11 is iffy and I will be eager to eat my 2.5 year old when my new chicks start laying in late summer/early fall.

Let's say I stick with 9-10. It seems to me that "Add 3, eat 3" annually is going to lead to the rough winters that I experienced in 19-20 winter. Is "Add 5, eat 5" super wasteful as it means I'll always be eating 1.5 year olds when the chicks start laying? This also adds a lot of capital cost built in to that "per dozen" cost. Or is lighting my coop in winter time something I should seriously consider? For that to be an option it would need to be a solar or battery powered option.

Basically I see my options as:

Keep Flock at 9, Add 3 / eat 3 annual, winters are rough with only 3 laying birds.

Keep Flock at 9.... Add 4 / Eat 4 worst layers each fall, this smooths out winters but i would be eating a lot more 1.5 year olds (only keeping 1 favorite hen over winter plus 4 new laying pullets)

Flock 10 - Add 5 / eat 5 - eating 100% of my 1.5 year olds ... winters are smoothed out some. But seems wasteful of 1.5 year olds with 50% flock turnover each year.

Light coop? I dont know anything about this option. I have no outdoor outlets so i would be looking into a solar/battery option, as I already push it with an extension cord through the window for a lightbulb under the waterer in winter.


If I ever rebuild everything from scratch (move, etc) I am going with space for 15 and keeping a 5/5/5 rotation!

 

[Ridgerunner]

It's your wants, desires, goals, and pocketbook so do as you will.

I don't do it but some people freeze eggs in the good times to use in the bad. Maybe a new thread titled Freezing Eggs might be an idea.

 

[Doc7]

It's your wants, desires, goals, and pocketbook so do as you will.

I don't do it but some people freeze eggs in the good times to use in the bad. Maybe a new thread titled Freezing Eggs might be an idea.

Hm, I don't think we have the space for that and already have a second freezer. It is something to consider. We did purchase our first dozen eggs in two years in order to make Christmas cookies, and it's always an option.

Come to think of it though, and reviewing my flock history, I didn't really do a great job of establishing my 3/3/3 rotation (3 chicks, 3 1 year olds, 3 2 year olds at a given time). I was actually down to 3 pullets / 3 hens coming into this winter. It's likely if I had kept the 3 1.5 year olds on as part of establishing the rotation I would have had a few more eggs at beginning and ending of winter. It might not be so bad if I go into a rotation that's 3/3/3 or 3/3/4 in one generation.

 

[aart]

It's hard to balance out....been playing at it for 7 year now.
New layer chicks early(march/april) each year will give you some eggs over winter.
But there will always be times of feast and famine.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Another problem is that I sometimes lose a hen in my rotation earlier than I expect. It could be her behaviors, it could be egg quality. If she doesn't meet my expectations I have her for dinner as I don't want to hatch her eggs. And occasionally one dies. This is why I often say my main laying/breeding flock is 6 to 8 hens.

The only way I know of to avoid the feast or famine is to go commercial. Keep one flock with you controlling lights to keep them laying for a long length of time. Have a second flock ready to lay when the first one drops it's production to where it is no longer worth feeding them. It will take a while to work out your timing. To me it's not worth it.

 

[Mrs. K]

The reason there are grocery stores with eggs in them, is that homestead eggs are not exact. In your same place last winter, and I have had a flock for YEARS.

I am in the camp - of freezing a couple dozen eggs - those I use for baking. I love to cook and bake, have a large family that frequently comes home. If I just about 3-4 dozen eggs into the freezer - then my fresh eggs can be used for eating during the long dark days of winter.

There is also a technique for drying eggs, or storing eggs in a water jar. how to store eggs in lime water, I have not tried this. But I might this year.

Or get a bigger coop/run. FYI two coops are way more fun. You have a place for grow out roosters, you have a place for a batch of meat birds, you have a place to split the laying flock when you are not quite ready to cull, but need more space. True enabler spoken here.

As for number of birds - I find that one for each person in the family plus 2-3.... say a grandma in a family of two, that currently has 10....haha

Mrs K

 

[Doc7]

Thanks all!!!

I will stick to a 3/3/3 rotation for a few years and follow up
As another poster said, if I end up eating one early in her career it just means I get another chick the next year!