Chicken math is calling!

[BigBlueHen53]

Y'all don't even know how funny you are. I have come to the conclusion, through careful scientific experimentation and much trial and error, that it takes at least 25 hens and a rooster to maintain control of ticks and chiggers on our property and not one bird less. Four? Seven? Pleeeeeze! Less than 20 and the bugs would eat the chickens!

 

[BGcoop]

Chicken math has hit me to
Started with 5 as town ordinance, now i can have 8.
Realized mixed breeds couldnt be shown and knew someone looking for a started flock.
Then i got 5 more, but one was rehomed for eating eggs.
So then i started hatching.
First batch didnt do well
Second i got 6 out of 7, 4 were males and one passed.
Third only one chick made it.
Fourth hatch,which is my current im pretty sure 3 out of 5 are cockerels.

So now i need to hatch more cause im still at 5.

Yep. Definitely time to set more eggs! And chicken math does get exponentially more complicated when you factor in hatching your own! The formula I used for hatching my own went something like this:

I want 3 hens, if I incubate I might have up to a 50% loss rate, so I need to set at least 6 eggs, but half of them might be males so I need to set at least 12 eggs, and if I take into count the inevitable deaths that could occur I should probably add another 2-3 eggs, but 15 is such an odd number to have so I’d better bump that up to 18(dozen and a half- we are talking about eggs here and they come in cartons of that size for a reason) and since 18 is so close to 20 I might as well just do that- I’m sure I can sell any extra chicks or I can butcher them if I have too many, so if I’m planning on butchering anyway I might as well just set 24 eggs(again working with the dozens here)….and that is how I ended up setting 50 eggs my first time hatching

 

[BGcoop]

Y'all don't even know how funny you are. I have come to the conclusion, through careful scientific experimentation and much trial and error, that it takes at least 25 hens and a rooster to maintain control of ticks and chiggers on our property and not one bird less. Four? Seven? Pleeeeeze! Less than 20 and the bugs would eat the chickens!

Thankfully the bugs are not quite that bad at my place…it might have to do with the fact that I have convinced neighbors to have their own natural pest control units installed…

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

Yep. Definitely time to set more eggs! And chicken math does get exponentially more complicated when you factor in hatching your own! The formula I used for hatching my own went something like this:

I want 3 hens, if I incubate I might have up to a 50% loss rate, so I need to set at least 6 eggs, but half of them might be males so I need to set at least 12 eggs, and if I take into count the inevitable deaths that could occur I should probably add another 2-3 eggs, but 15 is such an odd number to have so I’d better bump that up to 18(dozen and a half- we are talking about eggs here and they come in cartons of that size for a reason) and since 18 is so close to 20 I might as well just do that- I’m sure I can sell any extra chicks or I can butcher them if I have too many, so if I’m planning on butchering anyway I might as well just set 24 eggs(again working with the dozens here)….and that is how I ended up setting 50 eggs my first time hatching

I wish i coild have roosters, but i cant, yet.

I would love to hatch my own.
Im working with two amazing breeders though. Ill be getting more eggs in April!

 

[BGcoop]

I wish i coild have roosters, but i cant, yet.

I would love to hatch my own.
Im working with two amazing breeders though. Ill be getting more eggs in April!

Yay! How exciting.
I do like to have the Roos around, (at least one). It’s so comical to see him race across the yard when someone starts singing the egg song!

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

Yay! How exciting.
I do like to have the Roos around, (at least one). It’s so comical to see him race across the yard when someone starts singing the egg song!

Yes i would love to have a rooster and plan to in the near future

 

[Happy hen lover]

You guys should be so proud of me! I did not go to the store at 7:00 this morning.









I waited until 10:00! oops
View attachment 3771742

Ok I’m really done now. No more chicks this year.

 

[BGcoop]

View attachment 3772240

I saw that the local humane society had a pair of ducks and a pair of day old chicks get turned in today and man how I wished I had been there to snatch them!

 

[NagemTX]

*Cough* 50 plus in the yard and 50 in the incubator.....and 24 hatching eggs to be shipped 2nd week in April.

I need them for a project.....

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

*Cough* 50 plus in the yard and 50 in the incubator.....and 24 hatching eggs to be shipped 2nd week in April.

So over a hundred are expected?