Head Count Managment

[Miss Red]

I was just curious as to how everyone does their head counts. Do ya'll count per bird, per breed, by flock, how do you do it? Then do you tally results or know for sure how many birds are in each group?

This is how I do mine, the aussies/ducks are in fours so they're where I usually start...

Aussies, check. [4]
Guinea, check. [1]
Ducks, check. [4]
D'Uccel pair, check. [2]
Silkies, check. [2]
Elvis and Pricilla, check. [2]
Leaf and Chew, check. [2]
Gypsy, gone as usual only to show back up in the pen in the morning... where DOES that hen hide? [-1]
Serama roo, check. [1]
Piggy and Jostin, check. [2]
Silkie cross chicks age group one, check. [9]
EE age group one, check. [5+2 tag ons]
EE age group two, check. [4+1 similar aged Guinea]
Silkie cross chicks age group two, check. [7]
Bovine and Swine**, check. [2]
Broody Building
Broody hens in building, check. [Down to four!]'
Free Range Games
Tree gang, check. [44ish]

Total chickens for tonights count, 99*. Count would be 110 but I've slowly been losing chickens and a duck to the neighbors dog. She agreed to reimburse and pen her dog up, I've yet to see either happen.

So how do ya'll do it?
*Forgot to add Bovine and Swine, my two BYM chickens to the count. Added now.

 

[zazouse]

I use to know how many i had of everything ,now all i know is that i have 10 geese for sure.

Mine free range totally,i have no pens, i make rounds at my place threw out the day,no feathers no losses unless a snake gets a baby, i have hundreds of them right now and they free range also.

My flocks stay close to home but them crazy guineas can be found anywhere on our 100 acres, theey make great watch birds.

 

[gritsar]

If my adult birds aren't mingling around too much, I count them as one flock - 14 birds. Couldn't for the life of me figure out why I kept coming up short one bird last night, even after repeated counts. Turns out my missing bird, my roo, was in my arms the whole time.

If they are too busy, I count them by color - I have 5 dark brahmas (including my roo), 4 light brahmas and 5 buffs.

The babies in the brooder, who no longer stay in their brooder but run free on the screened porch, I count in two piles. My layer chicks, 13 of them. The meat birds I have 19 of. As long as I come out with a count of 32 on 2 out of 3 tries, I'm good.

 

[Miss Red]

I do color counts, too, if everyones running around. But I keep forgetting Piggy is no longer the only white bird and ending up looking down at my paper going, oh yeah!


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[geebs]

I do a pen count... I have a limit per pen... that helps keep things in check.

 

[EggsForIHOP]

Ours are all in seperate spots - some by breed or gender

so the count goes like this

Big girl coop : 6 bantams, 5 EE's OK
Roo hoop coop: 8 OK

chick tractors (seperated by color/breed because that was easy)
BR - 13 OK
white birds/BO - 14 ok
little EE's and the 'IDK but they are brownish' chicks - 9 OK

The IDK's are the mystery mix from MPC...I could guess all day at this point and still be wrong at what they are. DH said I have segregated them, which is profiling, and profiling is wrong - but when I moved the little ladies all by color, they were strangely MUCH easier to get a head count on for me at least.

I also throw out 2 - 3 treats seperately (piece of bread, some corn on the cob)- this makes them split into smaller groups and mostly hold still a minute. That helps a lot!

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

I only have 11 so I just do a head count on the roost in the evening when I shut the door.