Am I getting too many?

[Sunny Day]

I ordered from Ideal and received 10 of my 16 pullets the other day. They were happy to refund me for the other 6, but we had our hearts set on all the little cuties (mostly all different). Am I being overly ambitious to want 16 for my first go at it? My husband is building a nice 8X8 coop and we'll have a run about 10X 40. Is it all just too much to start out with? (I still have time to cancel the rest.) Thanks!

 

[Sherry]

Let me get this straight. You are asking a bunch of chicken addicts if 16 is too much?

You might as well buy them all at once, if you're like the rest of us, you'll keep buying them anyway.

Good luck. Post pics when you can.

 

[silkiechicken]

Nah, thats not too much to start with, I started with just 12, but I know there are people who started with 25 or 50. Way back when, in the 1940's , my grandpa decided chickens over minks and started with 3000.

 

[Dixiedoodle]

I don't have my chickens, yet and I am sitting here saying 'too many, no way'.....Dixie

 

[Picco]

I personally think starting out with only a few is the best way to go. When you have a lot of chickens they will be less friendly and you can run into problems a lot quicker. If you start out small your chickens will be more friendly and less stressed and therefore easier to deal with. Once you learn the ropes of chicken husbandry it is easier to expand. You can always get more chickens. I have seen many people jump into the hobby with way too many birds. These people often get frustrated and turn away from the hobby because they get overwelmed. I think starting out with a small flock is the way to go, adding more to it as your experience grows.

 

[CarriBrown]

Am I getting too many?

Chickens are not like calories, my dear. There is no such thing as "too many"!!

 

[Critter Crazy]

hmmm....too much??? I strated with 20 and am now up to 37 and still wanting more.

 

[AccidentalFarm]

Quote:

Too Many???

Hmm..I started out with 4 little week old chicks from the feed store at Easter. Less than a week later, I came home with 5 six week old pullets. I restrained myself for about a week, then ordered 10 chicks. Was so impatient, I brought home 4 Polish the next week and 4 more day olds a few days later. My shipped chicks came in, all survived and now I have the 7 'extras for warmth' added to the count. Today, I sat down and filled in an order for 25 more...

So, my answers to your questions??

"No", "No", (Heaven Forbid!!), and "Welcome"

 

[michellerene]

Well, I've opted to start with 6... originally I had thought 4 would be plenty! The coop will be big enough for 10, but I know I'll want more chicks next spring, so I'm going the "delayed gratification" route.

 

[4H kids and mom]

We started with our order of 25 of the breed we wanted, but got the straight run of them. So, all said and done, we kept our favorite 3 roos and the pullets, keeping a total of 12. Then we decided we wanted brown eggers and white eggers to go with our blue/green eggers, so we ordered some of them with our meat chicks. The hatchery goofed and sent our order out THREE times! We originally ordered 10 pullets (5 brown eggers and 5 white eggers) with our 10 meat birds. The hatchery sent out the 10 pullet chicks one day by mistake, then sent the order as it was supposed to be, then sent it AGAIN four days later due to the mistake of a new girl! Leaving us with a total of 40+ (they sent extras every time!) pullet chicks, and 20 meat chicks! We decided to keep 10 brown eggers, and 10 white eggers, and are selling the rest. We'll end up with a flock of 30-ish to be housed in our 10' x 12' coop with 10' x 20' run (which we will expand as the need arises.)

Can you EVER have too many? Nah! If you have the room, the time, the money, the patience, and the love to care for more....GET MORE! You wont be happy if you had your heart set on 16 and you only have 10. You'll always be wondering about the other 6...might as well get them now!