I am currently looking at a few properties, one of which my fiance and I will be buying this fall. We will start building as early next year as the weather permits, but I'm still at a loss of how large my flock needs to be (therefore the size my coop should be). We will be growing or raising 80% or more of our food, including having goats and cattle for milk and meat, chickens for eggs and meat, gardens and crops. Our favorite property has a very good established native grass hay feild, and most likely we will get this one. We will also be training and using oxen for much of the farm work in a few years, so we will no longer need tractors, etc.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand: Chickens. I need to know a good starting size for our flock. We use about a dozen to a dozen and a half eggs per week, if we have them. So I need enough hens to lay plenty of eggs that we can use, and any extras will go to family. We both like chicken very much, so may eat 1 a week, perhaps 2 a week ocassionally (at least until we get some goat or beef in the freezer!) Also, we like to share, so extra broilers would be used by family. So I need the hens to raise enough chicks for butcher. I dont want to keep a bunch a seperate coops with diferant breeds, so I have decided on having 1 or 2 dual purpose breeds in one coop (and then a second coop later on, when we have kids and need more room!) I don't plan on showing, so I don't mind crossbred chickens. And I am planning on building the coop TWICE as large as my starting flock needs, so I have plenty of room to grow, and the chickens have plenty of room to roam.
What size flock do you think would be a good start for us? Obviously, the size of flock will change to suit our needs once we actually have them, but I would like a good number to plan on for now.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand: Chickens. I need to know a good starting size for our flock. We use about a dozen to a dozen and a half eggs per week, if we have them. So I need enough hens to lay plenty of eggs that we can use, and any extras will go to family. We both like chicken very much, so may eat 1 a week, perhaps 2 a week ocassionally (at least until we get some goat or beef in the freezer!) Also, we like to share, so extra broilers would be used by family. So I need the hens to raise enough chicks for butcher. I dont want to keep a bunch a seperate coops with diferant breeds, so I have decided on having 1 or 2 dual purpose breeds in one coop (and then a second coop later on, when we have kids and need more room!) I don't plan on showing, so I don't mind crossbred chickens. And I am planning on building the coop TWICE as large as my starting flock needs, so I have plenty of room to grow, and the chickens have plenty of room to roam.
What size flock do you think would be a good start for us? Obviously, the size of flock will change to suit our needs once we actually have them, but I would like a good number to plan on for now.