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

[Jac Jac]

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).
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.

Not to start a word war...to put it politely, but some of us are doing the best we can with the resources and land mass we have. It is not self-righteous delusional nonsense that we do what we do and feel the way we feel. We thank you for the mathematical/statistical breakdown... however, for those of us occasional poultry eaters, a small backyard flock helps us to identify our need to contribute the best and only way we can. In my case, the available growth space is quite limited to do any better at this time, yet I am aware of the need to do more so... I'm searching daily for more adequate accommodations for my poultry flock and my human family. As I've almost reached my limit for the unincorporated area I reside in, I must responsibly be selective of the bird flock I keep, even if it's just a small impact on the commercial industry. Perhaps others have found themselves with similar limitations but I assure you it is not due to lack of realization that I don't do more. Once again, I thank you for the breakdown and humbly ask that you, please, don't take offense at my response.

 

[Molpet]

I was just looking at the free cockerels listed near me this week.... 13 to good homes only and 11 with no stipulation as to what happens to them. Usually there are 6 or so a week listed.
if I wasn't so picky on what they ate, I could get these free birds, finish them out and have a lot of the chicken I want for almost free....

 

[ChocolateMouse]

If I do a single CX run of 15 birds I've accounted for nearly 1/3rd of my households (3 people) annual chicken consumption. Our annual egg consumption is more than covered already with my EE flock.
Feeding my family mountain fed game chickens just isn't a requirement or a necessity to make a deeply substantial dent in my diet. There's SO many better options. It's not delusional at all to think that chicken keepers in suburban areas could get a large percentage of their needs from their flocks.

 

[perchie.girl]

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 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.

Hi Shad... When I move back home I will be on a fixed income. Social Security is the plan here in the US if you haven't invested some how. I don't eat primarily Chicken I eat beans and beef and fish as well. So to be honest I would be eating Chicken maybe twice per month. So approx 24 birds per year. I will raise up either dual purpose birds or Raise some Cornish for the table. Cornish are hard feathered and good in my Hot desert climate.

For red meat I will be raising muscovies. Their meat can be processed like beef making Corned beef, Pastrami... or like pork and make Prosciutto.

To be honest I believe meat should be used as an ingredient to lend flavor and protein to a vegetable dish. As the Asians do. Lots of flavor... Though I do like a nice steak now and then.

As far as supporting the meat industry I buy from local breeders and If I cant I would get hatchery stock to start with and raise up my own.. I dont use medicated starter so they would be raised up on what I feed them.

I cannot free range unless they are game birds. The layers are just too slow to escape predators. This is the back of my house and the land is very arid. Yes there are lots of things out there for the chickens to forage on. Filaree, mustard, some grasses, and Basically Chaparal. Grass hoppers, lizards, micies are all fair game. But with food on two feet and feathers walking about the predators come. Coyotes, Bobcat, and yes even mountain lion. I had one bobcat take out thirty chickens in about a month. Feeding her family.

Oh and I raise guinea fowl as well They get to free range. After they lay their eggs. I have had them fly from the rocks you see in the distance land on the peak of the green house room and fuss at me for dishing dinner out late.... Silly Birds. Love them Cant name them though they all look the same. All dark meat by the way and best stewed low and slow.

deb

 

[UluLaté]

Shadrak,

I’ve raised 50+ meat chicks at time. It’s not that difficult. By your calculation if one did that 4 times a year, then one could sustain their own meat. No one is exclusively a meat eater and when you are putting the money into good quality feed to grow your own meat, you betcha you will get every ounce of sustenance out of each bird.

A friend of mine raises chickens to sell. She does not keep hundreds of chickens. She collects eggs and then incubates them in batches. She recently hatched 40 meat chicks to give as a gift to some other friends. If each chicken lays 3 eggs in a week that number could be met in a little over a week from ten chickens. That’s reasonable. In my experience using an incubator is a the better way to hatch chickens than having broody hens. It would be the more reasonable way to accomplish it. For our family of five we do fine with two birds a week. First night we serve roasted chicken, then we pick every bit of meat off for a second day’s meal and day three is soup. We don’t eat meat on Fridays as a sacrifice/penance in remeberance of Christ’s passion, so six days will do. That’s roughly 100 birds a year for meat which is easily accomplished with 10-12 hens.... no need for getting into keeping hundreds of birds at one time...lol. As far as eggs go, if you refrigerate the eggs not incubated from that same flock to preserve for the non laying times, one would be fine. I don’t see why a dozen good chickens and a rooster shouldn’t suffice to sustain a family of 4-5. Besides, add some trout, or salmon and the meat from a hunted deer, elk, antelope or a raised goat, sheep or head of cattle and the milk, yogurt and cheese from a dairy breed and one has more than enough protein for the year.

The bigger consideration to our family at present is how to raise adequate feed for self sustaining ourown and livestock grain. That’s where we are. We just planted some winter wheat and will plant corn, sorghum, sunflowers and another plot of wheat in the Spring plus vegetables....it’s a lot of work, and I dont have an issue with the meat industry, I just don’t like the idea of being beholding to someone else to feed my family. I know a lot of people who raise chicken, cattle, sheep and goat commercially. They all treat their animals and the land ethically and responsibly.

What’s the beef?

 

[Shadrach]

I had several assumptions with my posts. First, alternative animal protein sources would be hard to come by, at least seasonally. Secondly, access to to complete diets would be non existent. I have first hand experience raising chickens without using complete diets. Several things at play to make that work. First several acres at least required just to keep a few birds and not all acres are equal. Secondly, production will be seasonal where from the months of November through roughly March no consistent egg production. During that interval, the best I could provide is scratch grains. Such a supplement to reduced forage availability during winter means focus is on keeping birds alive, not realizing production. At this time caloric requirements are also at their highest because birds will need to be outside to get what the scratch is short on. Broods would average 6 chicks at harvest and the majority of birds harvested would way less than 2 lbs. Faster growing breeds are going have a hard time producing on forages without a lot of supplementation with feed.

Quality forage will be a problem with this project. Feeding isn't going to be an area I'll have any responsibility for. The man who keeps Fayoumies here is going to be taking care of this. 20 acres sounds like a lot of room, but if say there comes a time when there are 500 chickens on that amount of land forage is just going to be a seasonal supplement and of course entertainment. I don't know nearly enough about feed for these types of chickens to even estimate what they will need. I do know the proposed feed is 22% protein. How that protein is arrived at I hope to find out at some point.

 

[Shadrach]

I was just looking at the free cockerels listed near me this week.... 13 to good homes only and 11 with no stipulation as to what happens to them. Usually there are 6 or so a week listed.
if I wasn't so picky on what they ate, I could get these free birds, finish them out and have a lot of the chicken I want for almost free....

There you go then. No need to keep chickens at all. Just collect all the unwanted males.

 

[Shadrach]

Not to start a word war...to put it politely, but some of us are doing the best we can with the resources and land mass we have. It is not self-righteous delusional nonsense that we do what we do and feel the way we feel. We thank you for the mathematical/statistical breakdown... however, for those of us occasional poultry eaters, a small backyard flock helps us to identify our need to contribute the best and only way we can. In my case, the available growth space is quite limited to do any better at this time, yet I am aware of the need to do more so... I'm searching daily for more adequate accommodations for my poultry flock and my human family. As I've almost reached my limit for the unincorporated area I reside in, I must responsibly be selective of the bird flock I keep, even if it's just a small impact on the commercial industry. Perhaps others have found themselves with similar limitations but I assure you it is not due to lack of realization that I don't do more. Once again, I thank you for the breakdown and humbly ask that you, please, don't take offense at my response.

I appreciate that some people want to keep livestock and rear some proportion of what they eat for a variety of reasons. I do have some serious concerns about the long term effects on the chicken and the conditions they are kept in. Some of the backyard setups I've seen pictures of are not that much better than some of the commercial setups; others of course are much much better. This is of course inevitable.
My feeling is much more progress could be made with intensive farming of meat and eggs in particular if we ate less of it and when we did we only bought pasture raised chicken products. I don't know if the USA has such a category.

 

[Ridgerunner]

@Molpet @ChocolateMouse Look at the thread title and only look at Shadrach's first post. Forget the rest of this thread. Try to ignore the blather. Just from the thread title and the first post, what questions are being asked.

There are two. I've pretty much ignored the eggs part of the question. A lot of people on this forum have enough experience to now that you don't need a lot of hens to get a lot of eggs. I actually think his estimate of six hens to average enough eggs for one a day and store them long enough so you can eat one a person a day for four people a bit low for practical reasons. But it's not worth the argument.

But his meat question is how many chickens do you need to produce 208 carcasses for eating in a year. That was the only question. In the first post he did not stipulate any other requirements. 208 carcasses a year. His word was "need", not what would be a practical number to use.

Most of the rest of the stuff in that first post I pretty much attribute to what he said in the quote below.

I must admit there a small amount of mischief in the original post.

It's pretty easy to show, using reasonable assumptions, that all you need to produce 208 carcasses is one rooster, two hens, and two incubators. That's each hen lays 150 eggs per year for a total of 300 eggs and 70% of those eggs hatch and produce a butcher aged chicken. 210 carcasses. So my answer to how many chickens you need to produce 208 carcasses is three. These parent chickens and the offspring can be raised in humane conditions. It doesn't have to be factory type conditions. I think many of us that raise chickens for meat understand that.

I don't consider three practical because you'd be starting a new batch of eggs in the incubator every week. It could take a lot of brooders. But if you add in enough hens to that flock to also produce eggs to eat, you could start a new incubator batch every three or four weeks. A lot more practical.

All this stuff about requiring the chicks to be hatched and raised by a broody and all that other stuff is just stuff added later. It does not address the original question. As far as I'm concerned adding these restrictions later is like changing the rules of a game at halftime to favor the home team.

 

[Shadrach]

But his meat question is how many chickens do you need to produce 208 carcasses for eating in a year.

No it wasn't.
This was the question.
How many chickens would you need to keep to supply all the meat and eggs your family eats?