Do I have too many baby chicks? Should I downsize now?

[NatJ]

They are definitely manageable, but are they happy in a flock this big? And they are going to be free range.

They will be fine.

Sometimes they may all hang out together, other times they may split up into little groups of friends.

I am sure that 20 is not too many for their own happiness.

I have all girls and one black australorp rooster. So that would be too many for him then?

If you want EVERY egg to be fertile, then that might be too many hens for one rooster.

But if you just want them to be happy, then it is NOT a problem. The rooster will not mind having that many hens available, and the hens will not mind that his attention is spread around.

Guidelines about how many hens per rooster are intended for people who want every egg to be fertile, but who do not want to feed any extra roosters. (Mostly those are people who are raising hundreds or thousands of chickens so they can sell thousands or millions of baby chicks.)

 

[MissE]

Pullets are pretty easy to sell at POL. If it were me, and I only wanted to keep a few, I would raise them all to 16-18 weeks, decide which ones I liked the best (personality, behavior with the others, etc) and sell the rest. If its anything like last year, people will have a hard time finding chicks and you'll sell them in no time.

Ok. Let's face it, I would keep all of them, but... there are options.

 

[NatJ]

Pullets are pretty easy to sell at POL. If it were me, and I only wanted to keep a few, I would raise them all to 16-18 weeks, decide which ones I liked the best (personality, behavior with the others, etc) and sell the rest. If its anything like last year, people will have a hard time finding chicks and you'll sell them in no time.

Excellent advice!

 

[Ivahribal]

My third concern is, what do you want to do when they age out of laying eggs? I like adding 3-7 chicks a year to keep up egg production in the winter, but everyone is different.

that’s another reason why I think my gut is telling me I should downsize now. Because I get emotionally attached and see myself in the future taking care of and feeding 20 aged out chickens over culling them.
I plan on adding a few each year as well.

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

I would suggest selling at least some, and that way you have space for those other breeds you mentioned maybe adding in the future. And you'd be helping out families who just want a small flock avoid small order fees from hatcheries.

There are also local chicken-keeping groups on social media where you can find people who either already keep chickens or want to - good place to find homes in your area for your surplus chicks. Keep in mind that FB doesn't allow you to post animals for sale, but you CAN post photos and say something like "I have 12 baby chicks of X breed in X town. Message me for details about them." ;-)

 

[wf1992]

What is this "too many" chickens you speak of?

I agree POL are easy to sell in the spring, plus you'll have a better idea of their personalities by then and can keep your favorites. And you'll be sure by then that the hatchery didn't mix up the sexing! Good luck raising a lap-chicken

 

[Ridgerunner]

it seems like I’m having a harder time bonding with this many chicks. I feel like a flock this large will be hard to keep bonded with me in the future

I just wonder if this is too many hens for one rooster, if they won’t bond with me like my small flocks in the past did, if chickens generally enjoy being in smaller groups

I’m not going to be hatching any of the eggs

I would think it’s perfectly fine to have a variety of breeds in my flock

So that would be too many for him then?

I plan on adding a few each year as well.

these girls and my little guy are going to be loved and cared for to the end of their days.

I've tried to copy off what I consider your relevant questions and comments so I can address them.

You want them as pets and for eggs. One of your major concerns is that you may have trouble bonding with them all since there are so many. And the number will continue growing through the years. I don't bond with mine to the extent that they are pets that perch in my shoulders or snuggle in my lap so I don't have that kind of experience. I haven't seen anyone else address that but my guess is that you'll have to commit a fair amount of time to them with that many. And since each one has its own personality I'd expect some to bond a lot more than others.

You are not planning on hatching any so fertility is not an issue. I think what you mean by "too many for him" is that you are relying on him to be a flock protector when they are out free ranging. My experience is that a few hens will hang with the rooster practically all the time but some will split into sub-flocks or cliques of their own and take separate journeys. There will be times that they are all one flock and stay close together but there will be times that some will roam in their own group, often a long way from the rooster.

I find the thought that a rooster is a flock protector to be overrated. Some will try to fight off some predators but when mine detect a risk they generally try to lead their flock to safety instead of staying behind to fight a rear guard action. In my opinion, where roosters are most beneficial for flock protection is that they tend to be on watch for danger more than the other flock members, especially for flying predators. Often the dominant hen takes on that role if you don't have a rooster but often does not mean always. Another place is when a rooster sees something he doesn't trust he will often put himself between whatever that is and his hens while he checks it out. In that way he does potentially sacrifice himself to protect the flock.

So there is some benefit to having a rooster as a flock protector but I've had two different dog attacks that killed a total of 13 chickens. In both of those dog attacks the rooster escaped without a missing feather. And, if your chickens are scattered, the rooster is not going to be around all of them.

Having a variety of breeds in your flock is fine. I personally enjoy those kinds of flocks much more than one where I can't tell individuals apart.

You are going to be adding a few each year and they will all be around until they die, whether that is old age, predators, or disease.

With all this I think downsizing now before you bond too closely with all those is a pretty good idea.

The coop I have drawn out is 14ft by 10ft for the main structure and the covered/run area goes out another 12 feet.

I'll address this separately. If you are buying new building materials, their less expensive forms usually come in standard dimensions of 4' or 8'. Like a sheet of plywood or an eight feet long 2x4. If you plan your building around these numbers you can usually save a lot of cutting and waste. If you have materials in a different dimension, plan for what you have. I don't know where you are located so I don't know if you have to plan for snow or ice load or not, but the roof needs to be sloped so water runs off in any case. That means the standard dimensions won't work since it is on a slope so may be something to bear in mind.

A more efficient size would be an 8x16 as opposed to a 10x14. You might save some money and work. Since you plan to integrate new chicks every year build with that in mind. I'd set it up so I could house chicks out there next to the others to make integration easier. That includes a section of run set up for the new chicks. Once they are integrated those areas can be opened to all.

You mentioned they will be free ranging. Don't count on that. You want to be able to leave them all locked in the coop and run for days on end if you need to. You may be doing something where you don't want them free ranging. If a predator starts picking off one a day you might want to safely lock them up until you deal with that predator. The ability to lock them all up for a while gives you a lot of flexibility to deal with things.

Good luck. It sounds like a fun adventure.

 

[TLWR]

I prefer to raise a few birds at a time. I find it easier to spend time with them when there are not so many of them.
I'm currently down to 3 chickens (and 2 ducks) and will be adding 2 more this spring to replace some lost birds from age/predators in the last year.

If you are contemplating thinning your numbers, I'd either split them into 2 brooders - ones you are raising to sell soon or at POL and start spending more time with just the ones you plan to keep. Not saying ignore the others, but as it sounds like you want to bond to your birds, spend your extra time with the ones you will keep. Or decide which ones you'd like to keep and sell the extras now.

 

[PDXJULES]

SSomeo

That helps. You can see my flock in my sig below (actually, I need to update it with the hatching and the new incubation I started). Like you, its "mixed", including SLWs. We also free range. They have a two story hen house (due to the ducks) of about 80sq ft upper story, second house urgently being built (what I should be doing now) in a 900 sq ft run. I just finished a second, larger run around two sides of the first (where the new hen house is going), and my birds free range approx 4+ acres (very irregularly shaped).

My Roo is having no seeming difficulties covering a LOT of hens. If I end up with a few infertile, its not a big deal, the incubator runs essentially 24/7/365 though I plan to grow up two replacements for him and swell my flock to 50 +/- while moving up my culling dates.

My current problem is too many eggs - I'm in a remote area, and can't seem to give them away beyond a couple dozen each week. My wife and I eat all the duck eggs.

Maybe someone from a local Food Share or Food Bank or Shelter program can come get the extra eggs every week when you can't drop them off? If a Meals on wheels is in your area that would be a great place also. If you have a backlog, boiled eggs in the shell are a great thing to offer to houseless campers and food programs.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

SSomeo

Maybe someone from a local Food Share or Food Bank or Shelter program can come get the extra eggs every week when you can't drop them off? If a Meals on wheels is in your area that would be a great place also. If you have a backlog, boiled eggs in the shell are a great thing to offer to houseless campers and food programs.

We are "remote". But the State wrote me today to say i don't need as much (or as expensive) licensing as their web site suggested to sell eggs, so i'm going to register and expand my advertising. Still looking into what i need to sell mutt chicks.

I should form an LLC...