Am I getting too many?

[boilerjoe_96]

Bought 10 supposedly 9 pullets 1 roo....(turned out 6 roos and 4 pullets...)

2 weeks later...... got 6 more pullets(5EE's and 1 RIR)

1 week later...then got 15 Cornish cross(those will be gone in 6-8 weeks though) as well as 3 more ISA-Brown pullets....

And I was done..... With 34 birds, well 33 a CC died...

Until the following week... 1 BBB turkey.... Now 34 birds....

Long term: 14 CC's will get butchered, 4 out of 6 roos will find the freezer... 1 EE is being given to a Coworker...

I will end up with 14 chickens (2 roo 12 pullets) and 1 Thankgiving dinner....

I too am building a 8X8 coop for the chickens.....

Of course the only problem I have is I cannot go to the feed store to buy more food, as I always get suckered or guilted in to buying more birds....(a different feed store doesn't have birds, I have to go there....)

 

[keljonma]

Quote:
The place where chickens sleep and nest is the house, the fenced playground area is the run; together they are the coop.

If your flock is locked up in the 8 x 8 house for any length of time, that size (4' p/bird) will give 16 chickens just enough room if they are standard size birds and plenty of room if they are bantams. You don't want to over crowd the birds because that can lead to health, pecking and possible cannabilism issues.

Like 4H kids and mom said, the number of birds you should have really all depends on

If you have the room, the time, the money, the patience, and the love to care for more.

Good luck!
regards,
keljonma

if edited, probably for typos...​

 

[daubernut]

I started with eighteen. All survived to maturity. The coop is 10x12 but is actually only 8x10 in living space for the birds - rest (4x10) is storage for feed, extra bale of straw for nesting and extra bale of wood shavings. There are three perches inside for them to roost on at night. I have a 10x10 chainlink run with a roof over the top so they can get outdoors without getting wet. From there, we have a gate that opens onto the main run which is about a quarter acre which we fenced. At night we close the gate to the chain link so the girls can get out in the morning but still be protected from larger preditors at night. In the winter we attached clear heavy plastic to the chain link walls so the girls got to stretch their legs outside the actual coop and still be protected from the winter winds. Kept the indoor poop load down a bit too as a result, We have had as many as 40 chickens over winter. Right now we have about 35 chickens, 1 rooster and 2 muskovy ducks. The female duck is setting on about fourteen eggs right now. We think they should hatch in about two weeks. If they are not hatched in three weeks we will get rid of them cause we don't want one of them breaking and stinking up the place. Our hens are strickly for laying. We have not decided on the ducks yet. We only took them in to help out a neighbour and then would not take them back. Compared to chickens the ducks are industrial poop machines. lol
Forgot to mention, we strung a power cord out in the winter with a heat lamp to help keep them warm. I felt guilty being in a warm house and them out there having to chip the ice to get water.

 

[buc]

Sunny Day, "too many" is a thought that might get many of us thinking (and typing)

DW was ok with me getting a few chickens and a few turkeys.

I now have 2 hens and 1 rooster Silver Lace WY and 3 hens and 1 goobler Blue Turkeys.

Two of the Blue's are sharing a nest and sitting a host of eggs. The SLWY have giving me 2 eggs a day on a near regular bases, I have taken about 35 eggs and batored them, of those 29 hatched and are doing fine.

I also took some of the Blue's eggs and batored them, sorry to say the results are far less, 9 born, 6 alive and doing well this was out of about 25 eggs.

I bought 15 cornish x --- and all of them are fine.

DW bought 10 (8 are alive and doing well) broad brested white turkeys and 5 Bronze turkeys.


So what started as a few has swelled.


NOTE***** none are pets, most will see the fry pan, some will be sold as breeding stock .

 

[SpottedCrow]

Don't listen to that pack of enablers!!!
I think 10 is a good start. You may not even, Goddess Forbid, like having them cheeping things...
I'd certainly start out small and you can get more as you go along...
That being said, the most birds I've ever had at one time was 3...
Fish tanks on the other hand...we won't go down that path...

 

[AccidentalFarm]

Quote:
Oh you just hush!!

 

[CarriBrown]

Quote:
Oh you just hush!!

Just let us do our thing!

 

[Picco]

One problem you may encounter when buying a lot is that you won't have room for more in the future should you fall in love with a particualr variety.

I recently learned about an amazing variety, the blue laced wyandotte and so I ordered 20 chicks. I also just ordered eggs from an amazing rare breed, the penedesenca. Luckily I started out small so I could expand. This is a consideration you might want to think about.... you can always add on!

 

[countrygirl4513]

Well I started out with 27 but 2 died. I love all my babies they are now 8 wks old. I guess the answer is... how many can you handle? Feed is expensive, upkeep, etc. So, it is really a personal decision. I myself can't wait to get home from work and let my babes out to play in freedom. They love to free range as long as mom is around to watch out for them. But keeping up with 25 peepers can be exhausting when they decide to go exploring in 25 different directions. So, it is truely on you and what you are comfortable with.

 

[Happy Dawg]

Try working at a feed store that sells them

Oh Boy did, I get sucked in Big Time Along with DH

. We started out saying "only 3" that turned into 6.
We get a new shipment in every week, the temptation is overwhelming at times

We are getting Silkies in next week and have decided two/or three more wont hurt......I mean Silkies are small right :|
Cheers