Explaining Chicken Math

[BakinInAZ]

When I lived in CA, my chickens were free range, & would show up w/big broods-10-15 usuallly. I was lucky that the female/male ratio was 80% or better female, but they sure were "broody". I never had a problem selling my extra chicks at the local feed store. Here in AZ there are so many predators that I want to build a coop first before I get any chickens. Also have to think about the summer heat/monsoons & our winter snow-all new to me. We could easily eat 8 or more eggs most days, so I'm looking at coop plans for ideas. Love this thread!

 

[CGChickMama]

I just got my first chickens five weeks ago. We started at 3 (2 BR and 1 EE). We decided it wasn't fair so added another EE two days later. We decided four was enough. After exploring this forum I decided I would love to add a Maran to my flock. Thankfully DH has reined me in for now. We have one more transfer in the military and we can easily move four. I told DH once retirement hits I am getting my Marans. I don't even want to think about what chicken math my future holds.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

I knew better, but in an excess of enthusiasm I ordered 60 chicks to go in a brooder sized to rear fifty to six weeks of age. So naturally being their first hatch of the season and ending up with more chicks than they expected the hatchery sent me seventy one!

Yeah, buddy. The last week before the weather was fit to move them into the grow-out pen the brooder was mighty squalid. Next year I stick with fifty. Fifty, I say! Do you hear me! FIFTY!

 

[CyndiChick]

Yep I heard ya. You said ninety. Heard it clear as day. One hundred chicks is all you are getting next time. Plus whatever packing peanuts come with them so round it up to say... one fifty? (Hey looky there! I got back to fifty!)

 

[lghrnlvr]

I have suffered another attack of chicken math! I have 4 hens right now. I made a homemade incubator and set 3 eggs. only 1 hatched. now "jeepers peepers" is a very lonely 2day old. I found out my local mill just got an order of pullets. I planned on one chick as a friend to peepers put they have a minimum of 5. Sooo. 4 has turned into 10 in 3 days lol
at least my chicken math isn't as bad as some of the other stories i have read

 

[ShawnaScott]

My math seems on target with you guys! Maybe it's just the rest of the world that's off?

Let's see, DH told me I could get 4 baby chicks. I got four bantams and that was to be the end, but then DH decided that we needed better egg layers, and he got 4 RIR crosses, and I got 4 more too (It would SO not be fair if he got cute new chickies and I didn't!) and now we had 12. After a few weeks, I noticed that the "silkies" I got were actually D'uccles, and I was so brokenhearted DH said I could get 2 Silkies (they were actually silkies this time!!) but DH sent me into the feed store while he sat in the car.....

What else could I do but get two silkies and two Japanese bantams? DH was mad, but a few days later the Japanese Bantams died

due to the management at the feed store being negligent. We went back to the store (I refused to get more Japanese, couldn't stand it if more died!) and they only had 1 silkie left, but 3 poor birds were being pecked to death, so I had to get them as well. I researched my breeds, and realized that I did not have a single blue or green egg layer! SO I had to get 2 EE....somehow DH's math is worse than mine, I didn't tell him I got two more, and he hasn't noticed yet!!

So
4 equals 20 hereabouts.

 

[magnumrebel]

I know exactly what you mean. I thought it would be cool to have maybe six chickens so we could have fresh eggs.... Well now we have 40 chickens and most likely turkeys coming next. The math just doesnt add up. Lol

 

[ShawnaScott]

DH has been pestering me for a turkey! Oh dear, those things are mean! AND big. I thought maybe if we got one I could gentle it, but no, DH wants to cook in on Thanksgiving. UGH. Nope, no turkies for me!

 

[magnumrebel]

You just have to show them who is boss.lol

 

[Northie]

I am at 0 (zero) and holding.... I am not allowing myself to buy ANY chicks until I have our coop to be cleaned out, renovated and securely fenced.

That being said, we're having chicken math issues even now in the planning stages. We started out of course thinking 4 hens would be perfect. Then we thought maybe it would be nice to have a rooster maybe two... That's 6, then I started to read about hen to rooster ratios, so knock off one rooster and add 6 hens, 12 is a nice number so add one more hen... So 4+2=6 6-1+6+1= 12
Yah 12 sounds like a good number... Then we could let them hatch eggs and eat some of the extras... How many is that now... Hmmm...

Then we started looking at breeds and I have my heart set on keeping a purebred line of Buff Orpingtons but, wait they come in different colours too... Hmmm I'd like some of those other colours. My hubby, who says he really doesn't care what kind they are so long as they aren't white chickens... Thinks he would like Rhodes Island Reds, because that's what his Granddad raised.... Oh and look at all the different colours eggs come in. Maybe I should put together a mixed flock to get a basket full of different coloured eggs. I totally need some of those chocolate eggs... You can get pink ones too? Oh my goodness I have to get a few silkies they're hilarious!!! Hmm, while I'm at it if I have a bunch of different chickens I could mix up my own breed... How many generations do you think it would take to fix that blue egg gene in a new breed.... I'd need lots of choices to select from for breeding stock and I'd have to have room for the crosses to grow out and start selecting towards my vision of a new... Woah... Yep there's your chicken math we started at 4...

I showed my hubby how people have been turning coolers into incubators, he figures he could make me one of those pretty easy... Same thing about turning the dog kennel into a brooders, and figures a summer grow out pen is a good idea too... He's not fighting this very hard... Maybe he's secretly suffering from chicken math too.

As it stands my coop will hold 30 standard sized chickens pretty comfortably. So do you think I need to build a couple more coops or should I just go straight to a barn???LOL.