Chicken Math

[kinsey228]

Anyone else have a problem seeing the different types of chickens and suddenly "needing" to get them ?

I started out with 3 Golden Comets and 3 White Leghorns. A few weeks later I added a couple of EE's and another Golden Comet. 2 months later I added 3 baby Guinea keets, an Australorp, Barred Rock, Light Brahma, and a Golden Laced Wyandotte. 2 weeks later I added 2 Marans/Wyandotte crosses, then a BLR Wyandotte, another EE, a bantam, and yesterday a SL Wyandotte, and a Buff Orpington. I hope I'm done for a while !

What did your flock start out as, and what is it like now?

 

[Frost Homestead]

Mine started out as just 2 EE. Then we got 6 more, 2 turned out to be roos...so then we got 4 more. They are only about a month old. Just last week we got 5 purebred Ameraucanas. One of the roos got killed by wild dogs that somehow got in the yard, so that leaves me with 14.

We may eventually get more, but I think I'm gonna cap the flock at 20. We'll see.....gotta love that chicken math!

 

[SimplyMe_AngieD]

Quote:
Yes... I am having a hard time seeing all this chicken math and then resisting going out and getting more!!

We have 6 chickens, the limit for our city. But I was trying to explain that in chicken math you only count the hens that are laying that day. Since none of my juvies are laying yet, that means I have no chickens, and I need a few more.

He didn't believe me.

Then I tried the approach of chicken math where you only count the main flock of chickens. Any chickens you keep in a second mini flock as a back up replacement for any hens you loose in the main flock do not count.

He didn't believe that either.

Dang.

 

[Fred's Hens]

As our flock grew in proportion to our egg customer base, I found it much more work, quite honestly. It is also harder just have a neighbor stop by and pitch in when you grow from 6 to 30 pullets and laying hens. So, in spite of the fun part of "chicken math", reality does set in. Feed is expensive and the labor involved increases. Finally, space in the barn is simply not infinite. I chalk a lot of chicken fever up to being like spring fever. When the hard days of winter set in, up here, the fever is quickly extinguished. Tending the flock in the dead of winter is simply harder and has to be done, has to be done, has to done.

 

[sheila3935]

Yep I know what you mean. We started out with 2 production reds. Now I have barred rocks, reds, NN ,delawares, austra whites, australorps,polish, silkies, EE's, bantam cochins, D'Anvers, white rocks, speckled sussex, and some mixed. And I have only had chickens for almost 2 years.

 

[stoopid]

Oh yes! I also have a hard time with the math. Reality kicked in when last year, I had considered getting NPIP certified. They wanted to know how many birds I had, so one morning I counted as they ran out of the coop. 83 birds later, I realized I had a problem. All in a town that allows 6 pullets, and no roos. OOPS. And being certified means no new birds from just anywhere. OK, so I hatched out about 50 more this year. I sold a few, hawk got a few, ordered MORE eggs.... luckily hubby loves them as much as I!!!

 

[cat1994]

Well I started with two mutt chickens (when I was 12 yrs old) from my uncle, before then I had never even thought of getting chickens. I got a white pullet and a black cockerel. I lost the lil white mutt hen to a coon, broke my heart. So I bought 2 RIRs, 2 Sebrights, and 2 Easter eggers all pullets to go with my lil black mutt roo. Then one RIR hen passed away and a Sebright hen after her, so I bought 4 NHRs, 3 pullets and 1 cockerel. Then one of my EE hens and the lil black mutt roo passed away then 2 NHR hens died so I bought 2 Speckled Sussex’s and 2 SLWs, one of each turned out to be cockerels. Then my neighbor gave me 12 Polish and one lil Japanese Bantam roo, all were roos but one Polish hen. My last RIR hen died and I sold my NHR roo, Speckled Sussex roo, and my SLW roo, I then bought two Dominique, one Barred Rock, and two EEs all pullets but one EE, no one wanted the ten Polish roos or the EE cockerel so we eat all of them. My Speckled Sussex hen went broody and hatched out an EE x Japanese Bantam cockerel. I bought six Silkies, one passed away, I think three are pullets and two are cockerels. Then my SLW hen died, my Polish hen passed way, and my last NHR hen died, then I sold the EE x Japanese Bantam cockerel. Then my Sussex hen passed away which leaves me with my flock I have now. One Japanese Bantam roo, two EE hens, one Silver Sebright hen, two Dominique hens, one Barred Rock hen, three Silkie pullets, and two Silkie cockerels, twelve chickens in all. Man what a mouth full. Lol I’m getting myself confused lol

When I looked at all this I realized that I have had chickens for about six yrs now… wow… And in all those yrs I have lost around 12 birds wow thats like two birds a yr, that makes me really sad

 

[DanEP]

We started with 15 buff orps and lost 2 to hawks.
we now have

13 buff orps
5 black orps 2 of these are roos
5 barred rocks 1 roo
6 white rocks 1 roo
3 slw
7 australorps

And are still thinking about a couple of ee's and a couple glw just to round things out.

 

[kinsey228]

Quote:
Yes... I am having a hard time seeing all this chicken math and then resisting going out and getting more!!

We have 6 chickens, the limit for our city. But I was trying to explain that in chicken math you only count the hens that are laying that day. Since none of my juvies are laying yet, that means I have no chickens, and I need a few more.

He didn't believe me.

Then I tried the approach of chicken math where you only count the main flock of chickens. Any chickens you keep in a second mini flock as a back up replacement for any hens you loose in the main flock do not count.

He didn't believe that either.

Dang.

Hahahaha

Keep trying.

 

[kinsey228]

Fred's Hens :

As our flock grew in proportion to our egg customer base, I found it much more work, quite honestly. It is also harder just have a neighbor stop by and pitch in when you grow from 6 to 30 pullets and laying hens. So, in spite of the fun part of "chicken math", reality does set in. Feed is expensive and the labor involved increases. Finally, space in the barn is simply not infinite. I chalk a lot of chicken fever up to being like spring fever. When the hard days of winter set in, up here, the fever is quickly extinguished. Tending the flock in the dead of winter is simply harder and has to be done, has to be done, has to done.

Right now we spend about $24 a month on feed for our chickens, plus treats. I had the Hubby build a coop large enough for 24 standard sized chickens to fit COMFORTABLY in the winter. We have 19 standard size chickens (or they will be when they get full sized), 1 bantam, and 3 guinea fowl. (the guineas may go to freezer camp by Dec.) So I am done getting chickens for a while. I want them to be able to move around in the winter and not be cramped. I know how winter can put thing into perspective. I found out last winter that Maine has more snow than I remember !

When I am out at 4 in the morning to snowblow the driveway, I'll just have to snowblow a path to the coop, and clear out the run. I love getting new chickens, but not to the point that they won't be taken care of. With a 2 kids, a very hyper dog, and Hubby, 20 chickens is plenty for me ! (for now)​