Beginner Flock Size

[Mrs. K]

25 hens is going to take a pretty big coop/run. You need to also look at what size of coop/ run you can set up. Overcrowding causes a lot of problems and can ruin their health. The more space they have, the happier and healthier they will be.

Mrs K

 

[Fancypants1]

Very true Mrs K., I had to add an extra run on for more space. I had pecking/bullying problems with just 7 girls. Pecking order was reestablished after my bully spent a good 2 weeks in "chicken jail".


extra space







"Chicken jail"




poor polish head getting pecked!

 

[RoosterCogburn7]

I vote for 6 hens. Generally speaking you should get 4-6 eggs a day, and that is about 3+ dozen of eggs a week, and I would think that would be enough to even give some away. If you owe someone a favor at work, and you bring them a dozen eggs..... they are thrilled.

If this is your first time, I vote go with the variety, and no rooster. It helps to get a little experience under your belt. And I have been in for more than 8 years, and surprisingly enough, sometimes you don't really like a breed that you think you will, and sometimes you like a breed that you thought you wouldn't.

This is a wonderful hobby and welcome to the forum.

Mrs K

This is true, depending on the breed. I currently have 6 hens, and three of them are laying. In two weeks I ended up with 2 dozen eggs. If there are six eggs laying approximately 4 eggs a week each, that should fit a family of four's needs. My wife stated once they all start laying, she will no longer need to buy them at the grocery store.

 

[lazy gardener]

My 2 cents worth: If you haven't already, read Henderson's chicken breeds chart. Then go to the chicken breeds forums to do more reading about the ones that spark your interest. You didn't say where you live. That will enter into your plans. Do you get severe cold winters? Extremely hot summers? How much yard space do you have? Will you fence in your flower and veggie garden? Do you mind poop on your patio and driveway? Also, consider what you will do with your birds when they stop laying? Will they be "forever until they die" pets, or will they be recycled into the crock pot? What will you do if you end up with an "oops" rooster? A lot of people end up with at least one "oops!"

I love a mixed flock. Love an egg basket with lots of colors. I don't like feathered feet, and I don't like big floppy combs because I live in the cold north where both of those traits can cause winter problems. Instead of recommending certain birds, I'll tell you a bit about my flock experiences: Rhode Island Red: Bully of the flock, good layer. Black sex links: All of mine have been home bred, nice colored birds, I love their beetle purple green feathers, heavy layers. My EE BSL birds have nice tight pea combs, and lay a beautiful green egg. My RIR x PBR EE has been a good layer in spite of a neurological problem. Dominiques: fantastic foragers with the most delightful soft feathers and beautiful pattern, rose comb. Docile birds, apt to be low on the pecking order, very personable. Egg size: medium. dependable layers when they get started. Wyandotte: Sweet bird, beautiful, usually minds her own business, always on a mission, dependable layer of nice large dark brown egg. Pioneer: First of this year's girls to start laying. She was bred to be a meat bird. But, "shhh! Don't tell her." She doesn't know that she's not supposed to be a fantastic layer... or perhaps she's cranking out the eggs to avoid that invitation to the dining table. EE: Gotta have a few of these for the colorful eggs. Sweet, a bit flighty. Love the varied colors. Leghorns: Mine are rose comb b/c of frost bite risk with the single comb. These birds are flighty, on a caffeine rush. Don't do well with confinement, or if confined, you'd better have a lid on that run! I forgive their overdrive personalities, considering the beautiful white eggs they give me.

Make your coop and run bigger than you think you'll need. Recommendation is 4 s.f. in the coop, 10 s.f. in the run. Crowded birds are mean, aggressive birds. Be sure there is plenty of roost space for your flock. While some folks do ok with the cute little coops that you can buy, there are multiple design flaws with them. They tend to not have much head room, the roosts tend to be skinny little things (risk of frost bitten toes), and not have enough room for the birds to all get up on the roost at the same time without bumping into each other or into the walls. They are poorly ventilated, and if they are well ventilated, they expose the birds to drafts or risk of frost bite when on the roost due to close proximity to the walls.

Lastly, enjoy your flock, they're sure to bring you years of enjoyment.

 

[Ashley Pederson]

Thank you all so much for your advice and wisdom! I'm very fortunate to have a local feed store really close by that knows their stuff, so I will not have to order three through the mail. I've seen the numerous warnings about chicken math, so I think we will go with 5 chicks as its my daughters favorite number and it will give us a little wiggle room to account for a possible rooster, while also leaving room to get some new chicks next spring to stagger the flocks age. These will be beloved pets for my daughters as well as egg producers, so we will have to keep some room for our retired ladies to comfortably live out their golden years while still having some active layers.

Again, thank you! You were all very helpful! I will be sure to post some pictures of our new flock in the chick section after we get them!

 

[Ashley Pederson]

Sorry if it sounds like I didn't listen since I went with a number that is smaller than what a lot of you advised. I really did listen and opted to go a bit smaller so I could get another round of chicks next spring to stagger the flock age. I saw several comments about the birds laying really well their first year and then slowing down, so I figured we would get by on a few less birds this year so we could get more chicks next year to help pick up the slack the mature ladies start leaving.

We live in Portland, OR and have fairly temperate weather. The temp has consistently been between 45-50*F day and night almost all winter, which did factor into the breeds that caught my interest. If it did get cold enough to be worrisome, there is an outlet box wired into the yard where the coop will be built so we can hang lights/heat to try to coax them to continue laying through the winter if need be.

 

[RoosterCogburn7]

25 hens is going to take a pretty big coop/run. You need to also look at what size of coop/ run you can set up. Overcrowding causes a lot of problems and can ruin their health. The more space they have, the happier and healthier they will be.

Mrs K

True, given the large size of the coop I am building, and the massive run, the FAQ on this website (very helpful BTW) suggested 20 chickens.

 

[SD Bird Lady]

@Ashley pe I think that sounds like a good starting number. You have definitely thought it through. Good luck!!

 

[donrae]

Being in Portland, you can have any breed as the climate isn't severe enough either way to cause issues. The only thing would be mud and feathered feet.

 

[Eldergoddess]

I live just north of Portland, OR and I have everything from Rhodes to Wyandottes. Just don't get birds with feathered feet if you plan to have them free range or be in a run at all. Birds with feathered feet are indoor only birds in the Northwest. Though I have found that English breeds do very well here due to the similar climate. Golden Sexlink are a good choice if you want egg laying machines.

My rule for letting my birds out is, do I want to be out in that weather? If the answer is no I leave them in their coop for the day. With that being said, I would make sure you have a good size coop for your needs. For example, my coop with its sq footage can hold about 20-25 hens, I have 14. This allows them to be inside without being crowded. I am not saying you need to go that big. But I would build or expand your coop to fit the sq footage per bird needed for the hens to be indoor birds. Yes you have a bigger coop to clean but if you need to leave them inside due to weather you won't feel bad about it. And I have found it keeps my girls from fighting.

My coop is set up so when I walk in the people door, the chicken door is to my left, their food can to my right. Along the right wall is their nesting buckets (5 gal buckets are easy to clean and fit most chickens. Even my fat Delawares fit.) The left wall has a window for venting and light. And the back wall has a poop door in the middle bottom and the roosts are varying heights along it. This allows me to only have to clean about 1/3 of the coop every time it needs to be cleaned. And cleaning is easy with a smooth steel floor, (straw over the top) the poop that sticks is easily removed with a flat shovel and when it comes time to get the water and soap once a year it makes fast work of a normally slow process. Chicken poop is like super glue once dried, I have to take a paint scraper and a lot of muscle to get the stuff off the roosts when it falls on them. I also use 2x4's for my roosts, this lets my girls sit down and cover their toes if they are cold. My water sits on cinder blocks on the floor and this helps keep the girls from making straw soup and my feeder hangs from the ceiling.

Even if its not cold enough out to require it, I leave at lest one heat lamp on for them in the wet months, this allows them to dry off and get warmed up if they get wet. And since the silly things seem to like wadding in the pond that is more often than not. You will need a heat lamp on the water when the temp outside dips into the low 30's. I have found with two heat lamps I can keep it about 10 degrees warmer in the coop than outside. So if its 30 outside I can keep it about 40 inside, which doesn't seem that hot but if you pick a hen up and hold her and stick your hands under her wings you will find that they are very warm birds. As long as your coop is dry and draft free (but vented) your girls will be happy.

My girls lay almost an egg a day EACH. So unless you want almost two dozen eggs a day I would cut back on your hens. Thankfully local food banks will gladly take the eggs and give you a tax recipe for them. My 14 hens lay about 10-14 eggs a day, if you notice a MAJOR drop in laying check for worms. Also the more hens you have the more expensive they become, they require more food, more bedding, more worming meds, and so on.

Me and my mom wanted to get about 8 hens, we some how ended up with 15 (14 hens, 1 roo). We got rid of the roo and now have 14. Chicken math.

Wilco (for you a somewhat local feed store). Has a good number of chickens on hand in the spring (starting in Feb) so for a little drive you can save the shipping and just pick them up in the area. Just be mindful of how long your drive home is and let the clerk know so they can really pack them in when putting them in their boxes. I would also bring a heating pad to put in the bottom of a big box and then put the little boxes on top of it. That would keep them nice and warm while you drove home.

TIP NUMBER ONE: Build Coop and run FIRST, then get chickens. (we did it the other way around, and still don't have a run)
TIP NUMBER TWO: A homemade wooden brooding box is your best friend, just remember they grow FAST. (I like a homemade box to that of the store bought ones, its cheaper and you can build it to however big you want it. And if you want to keep on the chicken track you will need it again)
TIP NUMBER THREE: Chicken Shows are FUN! Even if you don't win. And don't let some stuck up elitist tell you, that you can't take your feed store birds to a show. I have champion birds that are feed store birds.
TIP NUMBER FOUR: Chickens are friends not food. If possible train your dog (if you own one) that the chickens are friends and not to be eaten.
TIP NUMBER FIVE: We have coons here in the Northwest and they love chicken food and chickens if they can get them. Clean your feeding stations inside the coop and make sure if you give them food outside that they clean it up or you will have pests around your girls that you don't want.
TIP NUMBER SIX: Deworm your hens about ever 6 months, use a chicken (not chicken and pig) dewormer, that way you wont lose eggs when you deworm them.
TIP NUMBER SEVEN: HANDLE your birds ALOT. Doing this will make health checks and baths easier.
TIP NUMBER EIGHT: Train your birds to come will called. Some corn in a coffee can and a few weeks of calling, rattling the can and then rewarding with a treat will make it easier to round them up. (downside is they will fallow you around like little shadows wanting food)
TIP NUMBER NINE: Check your hens for wounds at lest once a week. And keep a chicken first aid kit handy. Bagbalm is your friend.
TIP NUMBER TEN: A window in the coop in the summer with a fan will keep your girls nice and cool.
TIP NUMBER ELVEN: A multivitamin added into the water is a MUST for chicks on non medicated feed, and for Northwest summers.
TIP NUMBER TWELVE: Have more than one water station in the summer time, chickens drink a lot of water.
TIP NUMBER THIRTEEN: Pellets not crumbs, once they are grown up ladies put them on a pellet if you can (some hens don't like pellets) I have found you have less feed waste.

Well that about sums up what I have learned in a year of owning chickens. Books are helpful but in the end the people that are everyday bird owners are going to be able to help you out a lot more than any book.

Chickens are kinda like having a baby, you start out as a compete novice and quickly become an expert in the subject.

PS: (last thing promise) Pick a brand of food and stay with it, don't brand jump a lot. I raised my hens on Nutrena so that is what layer feed I use. Do your homework on food brands ahead of time and pick the one you like.

And leave the fancy lighting and curtains out of the coop, chickens make a lot of "chicken dust" and its already hard enough to keep everything clean(ish) with out adding extra stuff to clean. If the birds don't need it, it doesn't need to be in there.