I, my dear people, am proud to be totally immune to Chicken Math. Well, there were the four out of 20 we lost in shipping last year that we went to a feed store to get replacements for so we'd be back up to the even 20. Got two of those....hey, are those Marans? Gee, I love the idea of dark eggs! Oh, and those Speckled Susssex are sure cute. They'd add a nice splash of color to the flock. Came home with 6. But that doesn't count as Chicken math because 2 were replacements and the other 4 would have been in the original order if I'd thought of it. So they weren't really add-ons....they were shuddabeens.
Had to do some culling. Out of 6 feed store chicks 3 were roos. Then a neighbor lost her entire flock to a pack of dogs, so I gave her 8 of mine when they were just starting to lay. Down to 11. Our gorgeous Pearly Girl died, so we were taking care of 10. Agatha went broody, so we ordered eggs. One hatched. He's a roo. But he's Scout the Wonder Boy so he doesn't count either - he's a celebrity, not a chicken. But head-wise we had to count 11.
Lo and behold we decided to expand the flock. Now, again, that wasn't chicken math. That was carefully considered and executed planning. Got 12. Lost one right after getting them home, so down to 11. The next week we went back to the feed store to replace that one. Came home with 4. But one was a replacement and the other was a long awaited dream of Buff Brahmas. Woops, 3 Buff Brahmas turned out to be 3 RIRs two of which are roos. The Mama Heating Pad system for brooding chicks makes things wayy to easy.....and I still didn't have Buff Brahmas. But the hatchery did. Um, what do you mean I have to order a minimum of 8 for my zip code? Well, if it's only way to replace those 3 RIRs with Buff Brahmas, then a woman's gotta do what a woman's gotta do. Once again, not chicken math - it was their rule, not mine after all.
So now I have 11 Bigs, 15 Littles, and 8 Tinys. But because I can control myself so well and because I'm immune to chicken math, that will be it. This year. For now.
Edited to add:
I went into the feed store
Just to buy a bag of starter,
I knew there'd be new chicks inside
So today it would be harder.
I walked right past the brooder boxes
Looked neither left nor right,
I heard the little chickies peep
And vowed to avoid the sight.
After paying for my order,
And heading for the door,
I opted just to take a peek,
A quick look - nothing more.
So here I sit in my orange suit,
Waiting my case on the docket-
How the heck do you suppose
Those chicks got in my pocket?
Had to do some culling. Out of 6 feed store chicks 3 were roos. Then a neighbor lost her entire flock to a pack of dogs, so I gave her 8 of mine when they were just starting to lay. Down to 11. Our gorgeous Pearly Girl died, so we were taking care of 10. Agatha went broody, so we ordered eggs. One hatched. He's a roo. But he's Scout the Wonder Boy so he doesn't count either - he's a celebrity, not a chicken. But head-wise we had to count 11.
Lo and behold we decided to expand the flock. Now, again, that wasn't chicken math. That was carefully considered and executed planning. Got 12. Lost one right after getting them home, so down to 11. The next week we went back to the feed store to replace that one. Came home with 4. But one was a replacement and the other was a long awaited dream of Buff Brahmas. Woops, 3 Buff Brahmas turned out to be 3 RIRs two of which are roos. The Mama Heating Pad system for brooding chicks makes things wayy to easy.....and I still didn't have Buff Brahmas. But the hatchery did. Um, what do you mean I have to order a minimum of 8 for my zip code? Well, if it's only way to replace those 3 RIRs with Buff Brahmas, then a woman's gotta do what a woman's gotta do. Once again, not chicken math - it was their rule, not mine after all.
So now I have 11 Bigs, 15 Littles, and 8 Tinys. But because I can control myself so well and because I'm immune to chicken math, that will be it. This year. For now.
Edited to add:
I went into the feed store
Just to buy a bag of starter,
I knew there'd be new chicks inside
So today it would be harder.
I walked right past the brooder boxes
Looked neither left nor right,
I heard the little chickies peep
And vowed to avoid the sight.
After paying for my order,
And heading for the door,
I opted just to take a peek,
A quick look - nothing more.
So here I sit in my orange suit,
Waiting my case on the docket-
How the heck do you suppose
Those chicks got in my pocket?
Last edited:
) found a local egg hatching crazy and left intending to get 20 chicks, since some would be roos. Once I've got twenty boxed, he counts the remainder in his brooder and its 10, says he'll give me that 10 for $5 (can't go wrong with that!) Well get home and that 10 is 11, giving me 31. Decide to trade 3 of my 10 EEs for 3 wyandottes, since I have none. End up trading 5 for 4 wyandottes and a RIR, since I also didn't have any of those. Then on my way home with them it occurs to me that I have no BRs so I stop at the feed store to see what they've got. End up with one BR, and two pretty mystery chicks. Moral of story 20+ chicken math=34. 
(23 pullets, 11 cockerels)
