Explaining Chicken Math

[ChookhengeFarm]

I just wanted ONE pet chicken... ONE.... lol... we lived with my inlaws and when he found out that I wanted a chicken, and had for several years, he suggested I find a breeder nearby. He had built a pen out back for his pheasants (supposedly, as he didn't have any and did not get any for a few years), and he said it could live there. Then when I told him I was going up to get one, he said "one? You might as well get 3...".. so I did... I got 3 young Silkie hens. Then the following spring I had a friend that needed a home for a silkie rooster, so I got him. And here we are 14 years and thousands of birds later! I currently have about 8 Silkie adults (had to cut back before we moved last year), about 50 Silkie chicks, more eggs in the electric hen, 20 assorted layers and aged pets, 6 Modern Games, 8 Seramas, and 3 ducks. Ha.

 

[RescueMama]

Oh, yeah, I have no idea. I have a thing with matching numbers and colours. I started with 4 hens, 3 "dark" ones and 1 "light" one.

I thought a dark one had been purchased by mistake, so I took her back the next day to exchange - I came home with not only her, but two others, - a buff and a coronation sussex.
Well, wasn't hubby dark at me that night! So that was 7 for me, one of which we rehomed due to nastiness and another just recently due to flightyness.

So now I am sadly "down" to five.

A white sussex (light)
A cornation sussex (light)
A faverolles (light)
A buff wyandotte (light)
A something or other (dark)

The fav is my favorite by far and hubby HATES it when she comes inside for cuddles (which she loves since she took a nasty turn after getting caught in a massive downpour while molting, poor mite - thus spending the weekend with us inside!)

RM

 

[bburn]

Here is mine. We went to the farm store and bought 29 straight run chicks....not knowing any better. Over half were roosters. I picked three I wanted to keep and rehomed and processed some. Then the boys grew up and the fighting starting. So then I had to have another coop....so, that was the duplex. Then the next year my DH bought me an incubator....what was he thinking???? And then he went out of town to work. So I hatched 38 the first batch and 40 (100%) the second hatch. Sold some, gave away some. Finally got down to one rooster and as of now 14 hens. Then sold some hens so that I could take a friends flock because he was moving. So in THAT (new) coop there are 9 Dominiques.....one roo and 8 hens. Well minus one hen because she became a momma and is in the 4th coop with her five babies. The 4th and 5th coops were from my friend that moved. Then the broodiness started and hens abandoned eggs and of course I had to crank up the incubator to save them........and then there was a really staggered hatch that is finally over......21 chicks later! Good thing I have the 5th coop waiting on this years babies. Already separating the roosters to go into the chicken tractor (does that count as 6?)

Chicken math has run amok at my house. And the only reason that I am getting away with it is because of the one hen that has the five babies! THAT is my DH's hen and babies. Once again he is coming home from working out of town.....and I have to get out there and finish the fence on the run on coop 5 before he gets here. Was hoping to have time to get the babies into it before he got here.....don't think I am going to make it. Some of the babies are just to little to go out there yet!

You gotta love chicken math.....and thank goodness I live out in the country!

 

[OHSpartan]

I have to add my story....

My wife and I decided to raise broilers as an "8-week-experiment." So we order 26 broilers. In the excitement, we decide to order 10 guinea, 5 Buff Orps and 5 Black Austr.

We needed a coop, so we went to Craigslist. The guy said buy 8 birds and get a free coop. 5 White Polish, 3 Dominique bantams come home with us. The village made my friend downsize her flock...6 Brown ISAs, 1 EE. Then 26 broilers arrive. Then we decide it would be fun to hatch our own, so we added a BO and BA roo to the order.

26+8+7+10+12 = 62.
There have been some fatalities, and most of the CX's are harvested, but you get the idea.

What followed next was

"Hey honey, since we will be over-wintering chickens, we might as well get a puppy." (this came to pass)
"Hey honey, since we have a border collie now, we should get lambs." (will happen in fall)
"Hey honey, if I bury chicken wire around this coop it would be perfect for rabbits." (as soon as I can build pen)
"Hey honey, OK. OK. Yes, dear. I know dear. No more animals. But..."

 

[nickie]

Three years ago someone my husband subcontracts for bought ducks for his kids for Easter. He had to get rid of the ducks. My husband called me and said I'm bringing 2 ducks home for the kids. I said no way are you bringing ducks here, I don't want ducks. Don't even think about it... That was a Monday. The Sunday after they came here was mothers day, guess who had my husband out in the yard digging a hole for a pond for her ducks... Me! We had a big argument about getting them because I didn't want them AT ALL, and I fell in love.

Somehow three years later I have 30 chickens, 5 ducks, and 12 turkeys...

 

[OHSpartan]

This is the most therapeutic thread I have read since joining this site. Thank you to all my fellow crazies out there.

 

[Mainechick168]

love the story!! I was also effected by chicken math- this is my first year with chickens, and I ordered 6 from the local farm store. One died after about 2 weeks, and the husband gave me the ok to replace her....so I called a guy who raises them on his farm until they are 8 weeks old, and ordered 5 from him!! so 5+1=10! I started with 2 white rocks and 4 EEs, lost one EE, then ordered one more EE, 2 barred rocks and 2 buff orpingtons. More chickens is always better, right???

 

[cashela]

LOL these stories are great. I have four hens and a Tom Turkey. You guys are beating me by a landslide but I almost brought home more this past weekend. Started out I wanted Turkeys because I wanted big birds and yet I knew nothing about them. Was at a chicken swap with my mom who is an enabler and we found two baby turkeys and there was a chicken that had to go with them, so I brought them home. Turns out the turkeys were BBW's and wouldn't make good pets. One lasted about 8 months, the other lasted two years and the little decrepit roo that I ended up with lasted about a year. Somehow I got a black chicken at another swap. I wasn't really looking for a chicken but brought one home. Then I went to a fair with my mom and she talked me into getting another chicken, a bantam silver laced wyandotte is what I chose. I really like "Chicken Little". I some how found a tom turkey that needed a home so Archibald came home. So I had two chickens and turkey. Then we went to the fair again and my mom talked me into getting another chicken. I purchased a white bantam wyandotte and when we went back to pick her up at the end of the day we ended up meeting the breeder who said she had one chicken left and asked if I would take it as she didn't want to bring it home. *sigh* I agreed. How I went from not ever wanting chickens to having four is beyond me

So I do have some self control, but barely. I happened to be perusing the MSPCA's website and they happen to have 5 turkeys! I've thought about getting a female for my tom but haven't found one. The MSPCA has two hens and 3 toms. I went and looked this weekend. I amazed myself by not trying to adopt a hen. Then I stopped at the feed store, they had a bunch of Holland turkeys, quail, pheasant, partridge and multiple breeds of chickens. I managed to tear myself away without taking anything home. It was HARD. I'm still thinking about the cute little quail (what the heck would I do with quail???)

Oh and I suspect I'm about to become a Call duck owner. My parents have 11 ducks, or maybe 10. They started out with two call ducks and wanted Mandarins so I scoured the earth and managed to get them 3 young Mandarin's. Well then my mom's two call ducks hatched out some babies, and they ended up keeping them all. They live in a town that really doesn't allow livestock poultry, etc. They have to have a permit for them. I told my parents if the Mandarin hatched any eggs I would take the babies. I thought we had agreed that if the other ducks laid eggs they would be taken away. Yeah well my mom is a softy, she left the eggs. Three hatched but only one made it. He is now living in my parents kitchen and I suspect I am going to become his owner. *sigh* I like ducks, but I don't want one, I'm not really set up for one.

 

[hdowden]

i have 26 chickens and 12 ducks lol and i only started with 2 chickens

 

[Tikkijane]

Indeed! But no one has mentioned that bantams = 2 for 1. Because they are smaller, they don't take up the same amount of space, which, in reality means you can get 2 bantams to fit in the space for a normal chicken.

We started out being set on getting 6. Well, we got our 6 and liked them so well we went back the next day for 4 more, but they were all gone. So we ordered 4 more (went in on a large rain check order). In the meantime, we went to TSC to see what they had and got 3 more, since we were able to split the required 6 with another person doing chicken math. So now we're up to 9.

Then our ordered 4 came in. So we were up to 13. Then, we got a foster chick which became permanent (and the only one who's gone broody to date, I might add, even though we have other BOs) which meant we had 14. One turned out to be a boy, so we went down to 13.

This year came, and the plan was to pick up one more PR and 3 EEs, to balance out the blue to brown egg ratio. Originally, we did well, and got those 4 at the one place. But then we went to TSC. And they not only had bantams, but they had silkies. Because they were straight run, we went ahead and got 6, knowing we'd have some boys. Out of that lot, both of the sultans were boys, and one of our silkies is definitely a boy, even though he's not exercising his pipes just yet.

Our original 6 turned into 23, and we

them all! We'll prolly have to rehome the boys at some point, but for now, we're hoping something will work out so we can keep them.

*sigh* I

chicken math!

PS- while we expected some chick loss and kinda sorta planned on it, we haven't had a single chick or chicken die yet. {knock on wood}