How many chickens? What kind?

[ABQ chicken keeper]

Coop is 6x9 and I will have about 16 linear feet of roosting space. I was thinking that would probably be the limiting factor of how many chickens I get. I live in the midwest, but in the Black Hills so surprisingly mild winters with an occasional very cold bout so there may be short chunks of time they would get stuck in the coop for a few days.

My local feed store does individual orders, then multiple orders ship at once to help decrease the odds of a bad shipping experience, but I should be able to be pretty picky with my preferences. We live outside city limits with no neighbors so we can have roosters. I'm thinking with that many chickens, I will end up with 1-2 accidental roos and I will keep one or both of them, depending on who is better taking care of and protecting the girls.

CCK,
It just occurred to me that your very large (40x25) run is most likely not covered, is that a correct assumption? If not do you have plenty of trees and bushes for your chickens to hide under? My concern is hawks and other birds of prey.

 

[BDutch]

12 chickens and many different breeds means a lot more stress than 6 chickens with similar characters. They poop 2x as much too, so 12 needs much more cleaning. With 6 hens you have plenty of eggs for a large family in the first 2 -3 years and less chances on heath issues.

During cold spells the flock probably stays inside the coop. With 6 this is probably fine. 12 might be very challenging unless you choose only smaller easygoing breeds. Dividing areas and roost space , not seeing each other, can help a lot if you have a bully /a few bullies.

A good rooster is a great asset especially if you want chicks in the future. A cockerel can give offspring too, but can be a pain in the ass towards the hens. Roosters and little children are often not a good combination.

Think ahead to the future like Rosemarythyme says. If you want to keep the older hens you better keep the ability to expand in numbers.

A large open run is not /not much safer than free ranging, depending on the sturdiness and height of the fence and blockage against diggers. Bushes or other hiding places are a must if you have birds of prey in the area.
With 6 hens and fertile, living soil you don’t need to clean the run space, and only need to add leaves/ chopped wood to compensate the chicken poop. Even with 12 it might work (not sure).

Chickens are active from dawn till dusk. If you dont want or can’t always attend around sunrise and sunset best buy a auto pop door. That way the chickens don’t need to stay inside much longer as they wish.

 

[CanyonCoopKeeper]

Thank you all so much for the valuable insight. We do have some decent tree and bush coverage in the fenced yard. 10x12 feet of it will be covered and fenced, so I'm hoping they'll have some good hiding spots.

I do think I will want to keep my old ladies after their egg laying prime has ended so I will plan on leaving room for growth. In that case, if I'm getting around 6 chickens this time around, are there breeds on this list (Mottled Java, Cream Legbar, Russian Orloff, Salmon Faverolles, Naked Neck, Starlight Green Eggers) that I should get sooner and/or together? For example, should I get the Faverolles in the first batch so they've got some seniority and less likely to get picked on? Maybe also get them at the same time as the Orloffs (because they both have feathered faces) and maybe the Naked Necks (because they also fit in the "weird necks" category)?

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

For example, should I get the Faverolles in the first batch so they've got some seniority and less likely to get picked on? Maybe also get them at the same time as the Orloffs (because they both have feathered faces) and maybe the Naked Necks (because they also fit in the "weird necks" category)?

I think getting the Favs early on is a good idea but don’t worry about the Turkens getting picked on. They can handle themselves when they need to.

 

[Mrs. K]

Hello from SD. I am on the prairie east of the hills. I hope you are not near the fires!

Think of this as a several year plan. If people ask me, and you did (kind of) I recommend a hen only flock the first year or two. Do you have children under 6 years of age? IMO roosters take more experience, and if they get aggressive, sometimes inexperienced people do not recognize the signs and they tend to attack children first. Wait for the roosters.

I have always loved a mixed breed bunch, easy to tell apart, often different colored eggs. I would just grab whatever you can get your hands on. Breeds might have tendencies, but it really depends on individual birds.

I too, strongly recommend, 6 birds to start, with the idea that next year you add 3-4 more, and then again the next year to a full coop depending on how things go. A multi-generational flock is a healthier flock.

This is a wonderful hobby, and you have years to enjoy it.

Mrs K

 

[rosemarythyme]

if I'm getting around 6 chickens this time around, are there breeds on this list (Mottled Java, Cream Legbar, Russian Orloff, Salmon Faverolles, Naked Neck, Starlight Green Eggers) that I should get sooner and/or together?

No, not really. All of those should be fine together. As a general rule you can mix and match as long as you avoid more aggressive breeds (RIRs are one) or super docile breeds that look different (Silkies, Polish). But as has been stated many times here, every bird is an individual so you'll find plenty of exceptions, with folks successfully having mixed flocks of everything imaginable, to folks having aggression issues with Faverolles. Since you have plenty of yard space that should help prevent behavioral issues related to crowding.

 

[PoodlesAndCoops]

Hello! About to make the jump and put my first EVER order of chickens in. Our space will allow about 12 chickens. They will not be free ranging, but have a run of about 40x25 feet, and I could see myself doing some supervised free ranging one day if I did a bit more research on doing it properly. I know it's smart not to order all 12 chickens in the first batch to leave room for expansion. I'm curious to get your thoughts on how many I should start with and maybe even recommendations on which breeds I should start with on my list of possibilities that might make it easier to integrate more chickens later. I'm considering Mottled Java, Cream Legbar, English or Lavender Orpingtons, an easter egger (Sapphire Olive Egger and/or Starlight Green Egger). I'm also considering getting some Salmon Faverolles or Turkens, but they're maybe lower on the priority list. I tink the Javas and Legbars are my tops at the moment but it's so hard to choose! I am planning to order from my local feedstore, who I orders them from Hoover (minimums of 2 or 3 depending on the breed). Flock goals: docile breeds that get along in a mixed flock with mostly low drama, egg color variety, sustainability factor like laying in winter or laying late in life. Thanks in advance for your insights!

I'm going to suggest a different approach than some folks here and say for the number of chickens you start with, consider how many eggs you'd like to have and work backward. For us, we have a small family, so 4 hens is sometimes too much eggs, even though we eat a lot of eggs.

Another thing to consider is the size of the eggs, as I find the bantam eggs are inconvenient to use when baking as they dont integrate 1:1 with a large size egg. Because of this, I re-homed some bantams I had and only kept one.

Think about your climate, is it terribly hot or cold? Feathered feet breeds with small combs do great in cold climates, but in hot ones, they can struggle, and hens with large combs and wattles do better. The chickens I guess lose a lot of heat through the comb and wattles. (This matters since we can't take them all inside when it's 105F, or whatever God sends our way come June, and it's sad to watch your hens visibly suffer even as you bring them ice water, etc. I have a sprinkler system set up shooting at the ground which helps cool it down, but heat is still hard on them.)

Last, is the run area covered and/or do you have dense shade? This is very important. These help them hide from raptors, and again in my hot climate, it's important to help them stay cooler.

Based on your list and things you want with the personality, I think Orpingtons make sense. My MIL has Opringtons and they're very charming and docile. Any of the "Heritage" breeds live longer than the "Production" or special crosses.

My flock has a mix of 4 breeds, including a Barred Rock, a Cinnamon Queen, a Buff Brahma, and one bantam Satin. The Brahma is queen bee, but she used to be bulled by the Japanese Game Hen / Silkie cross who I re-homed (she was drama).

My current flock are really docile and minimal drama, so you couldn't go wrong with any of those types.

 

[PoodlesAndCoops]

Hello from SD. I am on the prairie east of the hills. I hope you are not near the fires!

Think of this as a several year plan. If people ask me, and you did (kind of) I recommend a hen only flock the first year or two. Do you have children under 6 years of age? IMO roosters take more experience, and if they get aggressive, sometimes inexperienced people do not recognize the signs and they tend to attack children first. Wait for the roosters.

I have always loved a mixed breed bunch, easy to tell apart, often different colored eggs. I would just grab whatever you can get your hands on. Breeds might have tendencies, but it really depends on individual birds.

I too, strongly recommend, 6 birds to start, with the idea that next year you add 3-4 more, and then again the next year to a full coop depending on how things go. A multi-generational flock is a healthier flock.

This is a wonderful hobby, and you have years to enjoy it.

Mrs K

I agree with you on the mixed of breeds! I like that I know who is laying to keep tabs on their health, and it's fun to have the mix of eggs.