Lets just all agree that we have a soft spot for those feathery rascals. Lol
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Northie, go for the barn! You might as well since there is no cure for chicken math
Juneytunes, when you don't have chickens is when the fever strikes hard. It sneaks up and makes you order them and want that breed, ooh and that one too! LOL I want Wyandottes myself, but have to wait. Our coop is at max capacity or will be once the babies get grown up. And with me not working there isn't extra money for adding on. We already have a 14x16 ft coop, two 8x4 breeding pens, and two brooders in our bedroom closet....
Mine will, because next year, I am letting the hens sit, hatch, and raise their own chicks. I have planned 5 sq. ft. per chick to allow the breeding pens to also be used for grow out pens. plus 4 q. ft. for mama hen. Plan on, letting each hen hatch 7 eggs each. (7x5)=(1x4)=39 sq. ft. So I need 3 pens 4x10 ft. in area. I can raise the coop over the pen a bit and count the area underneath the 4x4 coop as run area. By the time they leave the spacious coop, they will be old enough to navigate back up a shallow ramp to the coop at night.
I need 2 sq. ft. per chick and 4 sq. ft. per mama hen inside the coop. (7x2)+(1x4)= 18. Needing a 4 ft. width on my coop, I can go for 4x4 or 4x5, depending on how the pens fit in my poultry area. So the yard only has to extend 5-6 ft. beyond the coop.
I've looked at a lot of plans and the space I have available. Combining the breeding pens and grow-out pens seems to be the best solution in the least amount of space. Plus, less moving birds from place to place. I can do 2 sittings in each breeding coop of 7 chicks each. Plus I have a nesting box in the main coop. That is 8 sittings x 7 chicks each = 56 chicks for the year for the flock. That is more than enough for my needs. After breeding season is over, the set-ups will be used for bachelor quarters for the cocks and holding pens to condition show birds.
Best,
Karen
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.
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