Seriously folks.
Chicken math is a real thing, don't think it's a joke.
We started out with one small-ish coop and 17 chicks bought from a hatchery. My sweetie had to talk me into it, I had a childhood fear of roosters and it took some persuading.
I absolutely fell in love with those chicks, spent hour upon hour watching them, tending them, feeding them treats and learning to care for them. Then they grew up and started to lay eggs. They laid EGGS! Gifts from the Gods, you know?
After our first flock matured and we started to get comfortable with the idea of being chicken-keepers, we started thinking about all the breeds out there that we didn't have. Our first flock had been Silver Spangled Hamburgs mostly.
Then we took in a rooster that someone was going to turn out into the wild, I mean you can't just let that happen right?
We decided to build another coop, get some chicks, for the new roo, of course. We ordered 26 chicks of various breeds. They grew up next door to the roo, they could hang out through the fence and get acquainted. They did. Then he moved in to the main coop after the chicks were of a decent age.
Then somebody went broody. Give her some eggs, why not? Then somebody else went broody. Can't deprive her, that wouldn't be right!
So, long story short, 7 or 8 broodys later, we have 12 new chicks and more on the way (lots of drama that I won't go into here). Can't seem to stop figuring out ways to get more chickens and couldn't be happier. We have three coops and are looking at building another, just for overflow, you understand...
Yeah, chicken math is a real thing.