How many chickens do you need

[marchick]

The big question is how do you go in and pick out just two or three?

I go in for six and end up with 12+

+

+

Maybe its just me and I have a problem!!!!

 

[Onyx Otter]

How much property is there for the birds to roam? They should each have at least 250 square feet in your backyard so they do not rip up all of the vegetation. Are you going to be living in hardcore town?

 

[torilovessmiles]

How much property is there for the birds to roam? They should each have at least 250 square feet in your backyard so they do not rip up all of the vegetation. Are you going to be living in hardcore town?

At least 250 square feet? Do you mean 25?
Standard minimum is usually 10sqft of run space/bird and 4sqft coop space/bird. Some people choose 25sqft run space/bird minimum for comfort. I've never heard 250 square feet per bird minimum for chickens...

 

[Onyx Otter]

At least 250 square feet? Do you mean 25?
Standard minimum is usually 10sqft of run space/bird and 4sqft coop space/bird. Some people choose 25sqft run space/bird minimum for comfort. I've never heard 250 square feet per bird minimum for chickens...

No, 250 square feet. Not in the run, but the entire yard if they will free range so that they do not rip up the lawn if they do.

 

[123RedBeard]

25 square feet per adult large chicken will be barren ground in short order ... 5'X5' is not a lot of room to roam (2'X5' is even less!)

 

[Sutremaine]

So, 2+1+1+7= 2, right?
Chicken math.

11. : /

However, it might be better to think in pounds of bird than in number of birds. It's already done with coop capacity, to some extent, though the division tends to be along breed lines.

 

[torilovessmiles]

11. : /

However, it might be better to think in pounds of bird than in number of birds. It's already done with coop capacity, to some extent, though the division tends to be along breed lines.

Haha it was a joke, how getting 2 chickens can easily end up with 11 due to what we backyard chicken keepers call "chicken math"

 

[AthenaT]

I have over 2500 Sq Ft of backyard and 10 hens. The coop is a ft knox type and they have 40 Sq Ft of coop space....they roam the back yard all day every day from near sun up to near sun down. I have 3, 4x6 raised garden beds (fenced) and 2 10 x 12 sheds and one 4 x 6 hotub...the rest of the yard has been almost completely laid bare in the year I have had my chickens. I even had to create tubes of fencing around my young trees to save them. They only things they have not eaten are the air potato and elephant ears

 

[Sutremaine]

Haha it was a joke

It's a little hard to tell a lot of the time.

 

[torilovessmiles]

It's a little hard to tell a lot of the time.

You need two minimum, three just in case something happens to one. But those polish look so funny, right? What's an extra chicken? One of them turned out to be a rooster but you can't give him up because you love him so much, so you decide to keep him! Then a hen starts sitting on some eggs. You can't just take her precious eggs from her! Only a couple will probably hatch, maybe three tops. But then 7 hatch. So, 2+1+1+7= 2, right?
Chicken math.
Seriously though you won't need any more than 3 at any given time, as long at they're all hens