Explaining Chicken Math

[Julie08]

but when its time to buy feed...... then they are OUR chickens!

 

[SunnySkies]

The chicken math is real now...I have a client who raises chickens and we found each other via CL. I asked for 8 Silkie chicks, although I had originally thought to only have 4-6 Silkies. Then we got to chatting, and she brought me 6 more of various Cochins. So I have 14 bantam chicks now. Plus 14 SFH eggs, 12 Silkie eggs, and 6 barnyard mixes in the incubator.

 

[shelbear81]

The chicken math is real now...I have a client who raises chickens and we found each other via CL. I asked for 8 Silkie chicks, although I had originally thought to only have 4-6 Silkies. Then we got to chatting, and she brought me 6 more of various Cochins. So I have 14 bantam chicks now. Plus 14 SFH eggs, 12 Silkie eggs, and 6 barnyard mixes in the incubator.

what is SFH?? sorry still not good with the abbrevs.

 

[SunnySkies]

SFH = Swedish Flower Hens

 

[Brittaya]

I'm new here, and new to having chickens. We started off a few weeks ago with the idea that "wouldn't it be nice to hatch a couple of chicks as a fun homeschooling activity for the boys?" I decided we should get one of the tiny brinsea incubators and hatch 5 or so. Of course DH decides that this is clearly not enough, so he buys the GFQ hovabator with 42 egg capacity. So okay I say go ahead and get a dozen eggs, as we found someone just out of town who was selling ISA Brown eggs for $5 a dozen. So of course DH comes home with TWO dozen just in case some don't hatch.

Unfortunately we live in a city that doesn't allow any chickens at all, so after our chickies get big enough they are off to our friend's parents farm where we can visit and pick up some free eggs for breakfast. Not too sure what we'll/they'll do with any roos though as I was reading another post on here that said ISA browns aren't worth processing for meat..

We just candled them for the last time before lockdown and saw 22 out of 23 moving! (one of our 24 eggs was infertile) Hopefully that's a good sign! Wish me lots of fuzzy luck. Hopefully by Friday/Saturday I'll be a mama all over again.

 

[mynamesjenelle]

so he buys the GFQ hovabator with 42 egg capacity

...

we live in a city that doesn't allow any chickens at all

Oh my goodness, that's the best chicken math I've seen yet! You can hatch 42 chicks a month and all your chickens have to equal zero at the end

Just show your neighbors this and I'm sure they will understand that you actually have no chickens at all!

OK I love every one of these stories.

I however, am sad to say that NO ONE here knows how to do "chicken math".

The way it was explained to me was:
1. Eggs do not count because you never count your chickens before they hatch.
2. Meaties do not count because they are dinner.
3. Extra Roos do not count because they are dinner.
4. Roos that are for breeding do not count because they are breeders.
5. Chicks do not count because the might be male or female, never sure till they lay an egg or crow.
6. Broody hens do not count because they are incubators and not laying eggs.
7. Hens that have just hatched off chicks do not count because they are new mothers, the chicks see #5
8. Hens that are molting do not count because they are not laying eggs.
9. Old hens do not count because they no longer laying eggs but are great mothers of step chicks.
10. Any chicken that is for sale or trade does not count because they are leaving.
11. Never have an odd number od chickens because no one wants to be the odd chicken out.
12. Bantams only count as 1/2 because they are small.
13. ANY ANIMAL that has a name is not counted because once you give them a name they are family, and you can not count family.

So the way I see it most of you need buy some chickens because most of what you have DO NOT COUNT.

So says the guy who 3 years ago started with 11 hens and 1 roo,
Last year had over 600 mouths that were taking in food.
Today I only have 32 chickens, even though I am feeding close to 200 mouths.

 

[Brittaya]

Haha I know right? We're looking to buy a house soon and we haven't decided yet if we want to live in the city or start our own little hobby farm. The challenge is finding a place close enough to the city so my husband can still get to work.

 

[CAjerseychick]

Haha I know right? We're looking to buy a house soon and we haven't decided yet if we want to live in the city or start our own little hobby farm. The challenge is finding a place close enough to the city so my husband can still get to work.

We were house hunting a year ago.... We arent in Canada but check out your City ordinances they may have a Backyard chicken amendment to the City Charter to allow chickens-- the ordinance (or whatever they call that rule in Canada) will spell out how many chickens you can have for your lot size etc... Something to check out when you are house hunting...

 

[SusanRenee]

Farm. Way more entertaining, trust me. Went from a house with a backyard that was 22x50 to an acre and 3/4. Tell him it's worth it for the eggs!!!

 

[CAjerseychick]

Farm. Way more entertaining, trust me. Went from a house with a backyard that was 22x50 to an acre and 3/4. Tell him it's worth it for the eggs!!!

We did end up on little farm... 1.94 acres.... It is fun, although d/t chicken math we aimed for 8 and ended up with 19 chickens!... It is a bit of a commute though... pros and cons....