I try to stay under 20, but even that's too many. With a limited market for really tiny eggs (mostly Nankin bantams) I have to get creative with too many extras. My current count is 16. With a few senior (retired or semi-retired) hens and my two roosters, that seems to be working, for now.
My little sister and I had to sleep in these every Saturday night so that our loooooong hair would have those perfect sausage curls for church the next morning. UGH!
Oh chicken math got me hard ... I just got really lucky and found someone to take my surprise hatches and a really nice rooster. I doubt I'll be as lucky this year. I'm gonna have to work at it, this time!
I don't know how I managed to do it, but I managed to keep my biggest chicken resolution this year ... so I'm gonna repeat it for 2026: NO NET GAIN!
I resolve to end the year with the same number of (or fewer) chickens than I started out with. We'll see how that pans out this time ... :oops:
Years ago, I had a gorgeous red tabby named Lancelot, because he'd been lanced ,,, a LOT! He was mauled by a cocker spaniel before he even had his eyes open. Our vet said he'd used up all eleven of his nine lives before he was six weeks old. Lance was my bestie for 16 years, after that!