How many chickens would you need to keep to supply all the meat and eggs your family eats?

[Carcavallo]

This is a fascinating conversation and I think we need to add the other meats a person would normally have in their diet as well otherwise the math does not make sense. Also think about number of adults vs children as the amount of meat they would eat is very different.
Not to mention that protein from non-meat sources is part of any healthy diet. There is no way to have a healthy lifestyle having chicken meat and eggs only as the protein source.

 

[kiwi-chick]

I think we need to add the other meats a person would normally have in their diet

The whole point was to try thinking that chicken was all your only meat source and not use other types of meat..... so calculate what other meats you eat and transfer that to chicken...

There is no way to have a healthy lifestyle having chicken meat and eggs only as the protein source.

of course not - this is not about reality - it is an exercise in thought!

 

[tammysharp]

My family of 4 meat eaters raises chickens for meat, but we've never expected to supply all our family's meat via the chicken flock. We eat 1-2 whole chickens per week and then make broth or soup with what is left over. The rest of our meat comes from wild pig, wild rabbit, wild deer and beef we raise ourselves or buy locally. We have been supplying about 80-90 percent of our meat outside of the commercial supply chain for about two years now. We still buy processed meats such as lunch meat, sausage and bacon. In the spring we raise meat chickens, but also chicks that have been hatched on our property. I'm considering moving strictly to eating the chickens hatched and hen-raised on our property because it's more sustainable and certainly a lot easier. I wouldn't consider raising more than about 60 chickens per year for the freezer. Our land wouldn't be able to support more than that, and frankly we don't like chicken enough that we want it to be our only meat source.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

My family of 4 meat eaters raises chickens for meat, but we've never expected to supply all our family's meat via the chicken flock. We eat 1-2 whole chickens per week and then make broth or soup with what is left over. The rest of our meat comes from wild pig, wild rabbit, wild deer and beef we raise ourselves or buy locally. We have been supplying about 80-90 percent of our meat outside of the commercial supply chain for about two years now. We still buy processed meats such as lunch meat, sausage and bacon. In the spring we raise meat chickens, but also chicks that have been hatched on our property. I'm considering moving strictly to eating the chickens hatched and hen-raised on our property because it's more sustainable and certainly a lot easier. I wouldn't consider raising more than about 60 chickens per year for the freezer. Our land wouldn't be able to support more than that, and frankly we don't like chicken enough that we want it to be our only meat source.

Might I suggest you make your own sausage??? Its easy. It doesn't require a lot of specialized equipment, and its a great way to add variety to the table in terms of flavor. Its also a good way to deal with old bird. We've been turning old chickens and old ducks into either seasoned ground meat (tacos, pre-seasoned burgers, etc) or sausage - both "breakfast" sausage and encased in casings sausages. The mechanical grinding process helps "tenderize" the meat, and the strong seasonings, salt cure, and (often) slow smoking also help with texture and flavor.

This thread is an interesting thought experiment. Some assumptions I don't agree with - but an interesting thought experiment none the less.

 

[Skinkly pinkly]

I read a lot of posts where people say they keep chickens so they can supply meat and eggs for their families.

Take a family of four. I’m going to take an arbitrary minimum of one chicken per person per week as the point where one can still call oneself a regular eater of meat. This if managed right could supply roughly 4 servings of meat cuts per person per week, providing roughly 30 grams of protein per serving. You may be able to increase this by one more serving by making full use of the bird by making a broth/stew.

There are various estimates depending on size and body part for the amount of protein in a chicken.

I’ve taken 140 grams of protein per bird as a reasonable estimate if the entire chicken is eaten.

The recommended amount of protein per day for the average adult is 50/60 grams.

So eating one chicken per week per person will supply you with half your protein requirements for four days to five days.

So, for one person this amounts to 52 chickens a year to cover their meat consumption (only eating chicken meat reared at home).

For a family of four that’s 208 chickens per year.

If you are primarily a meat eater and you want to supply your own meat and make any realistic claims about not supporting the meat industry you could be looking at 400+ chickens a year just to provide half your protein requirements from chicken meat.

While it is possible to replace 400 chickens each year from say a hatchery the more ethical and sensible approach would be to have a self sustaining flock. This mean rooster and some stock to breed next years chickens from; say a minimum of a further 100 hens going broody each year and producing four chicks per hen, plus of course the roosters needed to fertilize the eggs.

That gives a flock size of roughly 500 chickens to supply a bit over half a families protein from meat requirement each year.

So, a question for those who claim they are keeping chickens to put meat on the table for their family.
How many chickens do you keep?

My view, the claims about providing for the family and not supporting the meat industry are self righteous delusional nonsense....unless of course you have 500 chickens.

Yes, every little helps but the above should show just how small a contribution a backyard flock of say ten chickens makes to the reduction of commercially produced chicken meat. Basically it’s insignificant.

There is a noticeable divide when discussions on BYC get a bit heated between those who say they view their chickens as pets and those who often try to take the higher ground by calling them livestock for providing food for the family.

The numbers say that for people like myself who kill and eat the occasional chicken; for me I think the average is five a year, the difference we make to the reduction of commercially produced meant and all the ethical debate surrounding it is in reality non existent.

It may be possible to supply a family of four with all the eggs they consume in a year with a small backyard flock.

An egg a day per person works out as 28 eggs every week 52 weeks of the year. That’s 1456 eggs a year. Each egg will give on average 6 grams of protein, roughly one tenth of your protein requirements per day. That’ s rougly 6 hens capable of laying 250 eggs per year, every year for their lifespan.

Assuming the above figures are reasonable then the claims that backyard chicken keeping has any impact on the large commercial production of eggs and meat looks unrealistic to put it politely.

I keep chickens for eggs and a few for meat. Not cheaper on either side. Could easily buy what I need for a lot less hassle and cost. The reason I do it is because I like having the chickens around and i also feel like any little bit of difference I can make matters at least a little. No, I can never raise enough chickens on my small plot of land to feed even myself and my partner, but I do what I can because of the poor conditions that I know animals are raised in.

I eat meat and therefore animals will die to feed me. Since I want to continue to eat meat, animals will continue to die to fill my belly. But the chickens I raise get to hang out and lay in the sun and pretty much enjoy a nice normal life until I cut it short with my knife. That matters to me. Call me crazy, call me delusional, but doing what I can with what I have in my situation makes me feel a little better. Chickens in a big scale farm probably live 100 days of torture and 1 day of relief when they are put out of their misery. Mine live 99 days of happiness and 1 day not even a day. 1 minute of unhappiness. I feel good about that. I do what I can and that's all that I can do. That's all anyone can do.

 

[Mrs. K]

I do not know how I missed this article. Raising the food my family eats has been now a life long hobby. Nothing makes me prouder than to say at the table, this meal came from the ranch. I can, I freeze, I have a garden and chickens and cattle.

I have never even come remotely close to fulfilling the food requirements of my family. And personally, I am thrilled that corporate agriculture is out there, because when I have had my failures - and they have been numerous - some do to my fault, and some beyond my control... my family still eats.

It rather amazes me how many of you do not eat much meat - we eat it nearly three meals a day! We all live differently, but most of us do not like starving. Some of you do like starving, I think it is good for your soul.

An interesting debate has ranged, thanks Shadrock - I enjoyed reading most of it.

Mrs K