How many chickens do you have?

[ChickenCanoe]

I like the idea of using bands for identification- but I can't help simply naming them. All are pets, none are eaten. I don't even eat eggs; eggs are collected and gifted.
How do wing bands work?

I have been considering wing bands as well. I had been using coloured zip ties, but they rapidly became brittle and fell off.

I really had a good program for colored numbered bandettes. I used the same color coding as is used for queen bees.
Blue - 2005, 2010, 2015, 2020
White - 2006, 2011, 2016, 2021
Yellow - 2007, 2012, 2017, 2022
Red - 2008, 2013, 2018, 2023
Green - 2009, 2014, 2019, 2024
For chicken leg bands I used orange instead of red.
It was nice to tell from afar the age of a bird.
Because they lost so many bands, I started buying two sets and put one on each leg but they still lost some.
I finally relented and switched to wing bands because of their permanency and the importance of pedigreeing lines.
I use Jiffy wing bands. Here's a video to show the process.

Since all my birds are all black, it wouldn't make sense to name them, plus I'm a farmer so I eat livestock and their eggs are delicious - not to mention nutritious.

 

[My2butterflies]

We currently have 21 chickens. I’ll hatch some next year and can’t promise I’ll sell them all
We also have 12 adult guineas, 13 guinea keets, and 3 turkeys.
We are planning on getting some ducks next year too.
I really don’t know how we ended up with so many birds

 

[microchick]

My chickens earn their names. Cowboy because he's a cochin bantam cross and about half the size of my regular barnyard layers so he rides around on their backs a lot trying and not succeeding to mate them. Tut, the Egyptian Fayoumi rooster. What else am I going to name him but King Tut? Then Minnie Mouser, the alpha hen who is a first class mouser who puts our cats to shame.

8 week old Trouble, Bubba, Sissy, Peanut, Silly Girl, MJ (Minnie's daughter) and Little Boy. My husband is amazed that he can point to a chicken and I can tell him it's name, except for the ones who haven't earned their name yet.

They are all called 'Hey, feather head!'

 

[Ruby Rogue]

I just got the memo about not including birds intended for meat. I'll assume you don't want me to include the cockerels I do not wish to keep as well, but I can't completely distinguish which ones will be permanent and which will not. I have presently one 10x12 coop which is supposed to only house the meat birds, however, the process is running very slowly for my 'summer coop' to be built so my 10x12 Cornish x coop is currently housing 40 Cornish x, 6 - 15ish week old birds, 5 - 8 week olds, and 8 -2 week olds, all separately quarantined. Thank God the lumber for the half finished coop just arrived, and thank goodness we have plenty of outdoor run space for the daytime. This equals 61 birds in a 10x12 space and I do *not* think that would ever be comfortable or sufficient .

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I just got the memo about not including birds intended for meat. I'll assume you don't want me to include the cockerels I do not wish to keep as well, but I can't completely distinguish which ones will be permanent and which will not. I have presently one 10x12 coop which is supposed to only house the meat birds, however, the process is running very slowly for my 'summer coop' to be built so my 10x12 Cornish x coop is currently housing 40 Cornish x, 6 - 15ish week old birds, 5 - 8 week olds, and 8 -2 week olds, all separately quarantined. Thank God the lumber for the half finished coop just arrived, and thank goodness we have plenty of outdoor run space for the daytime. This equals 61 birds in a 10x12 space and I do *not* think that would ever be comfortable or sufficient .

In my little brain cockerel barnyard mixes that may or may not make it to the stew pot could be counted but Cornish cross are so temporary that I didn’t think they should be counted as part of the regular flock. However, I was just asking a fun question and you can count what you feel should be counted as your flock. I have a rooster who may be destined for the dinner table but I counted him for now.

 

[Ruby Rogue]

In my little brain cockerel barnyard mixes that may or may not make it to the stew pot could be counted but Cornish cross are so temporary that I didn’t think they should be counted as part of the regular flock. However, I was just asking a fun question and you can count what you feel should be counted as your flock. I have a rooster who may be destined for the dinner table but I counted him for now.

I can't even think about eating my cockerels


I know....I know....

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I can't even think about eating my cockerels


I know....I know....

He probably won’t wind up there. I’m weak.

 

[Ruby Rogue]

He probably won’t wind up there. I’m weak.

I have a soft spot for them. I have no problem eating chickens but it's so hard to pick just one or 2....even when my favorite became a nuisance, he didn't make it to the dinner table. I need to harden up.

 

[Flockincrazy]

I have 47chickens in my main coop 9roos in my batchler coop that are all rescues and I also have 8ducks 6turkeys and 3bunnies in my main coop and 147quail in there own pen and 24chicks in my brooder i just added on to my main coop it is 20'x35' and just built new run and nestboxes I now have 10 nestboxes and am thinking about adding 5 more most of my chickens are bantams so they have plenty of room

 

[nao57]

So for the people who did the poll, I would like to know what percent of those are inside city limits?

I hope people do have more, because it means that I could get away with more. I'm in city limits.