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

[Molpet]

Thats an interesting observation. I wonder if the incubator and human reared chicks are generally more fearful.
It also makes one wonder if predator awareness is learned, or is genetic, or some combination.

I think chicks in a brooder are use to being handled and think not every big thing is going to eat them. So they don't fear everything like my broody raised that the mother keeps them away. The broodies that come up to me with the chicks have the most attacked chicks. Usually just after she abondons them and they are on their own during the day... They are wandering around in the open. So far I have intervene on all attacks and not lost any to predators. I hear the roosters or turkey alerts and run out. Usually a young hawk. Amazing how well they heal.

 

[centrarchid]

Thats an interesting observation. I wonder if the incubator and human reared chicks are generally more fearful.
It also makes one wonder if predator awareness is learned, or is genetic, or some combination.

It is a combination. It takes two generations for me to get birds to launch like pheasant when frightened. My dual purpose do not have the same capacity for extreme predator avoidance even when reared under similar conditions.

 

[Shadrach]

Usually just after she abondons them and they are on their own during the day... They are wandering around in the open. So far I have intervene on all attacks and not lost any to

That does agree with what I've found. There is a period shortly after the mother has finished full time care, that the chicks roam as a group separate from the adults. I lose chicks in this period. If they make a couple of weeks by then they have learn't which adults to avoid, sorted out their own hierarchy amd move with the group. Unfortunately it has often taken the life of a chick through predation to frighten (?) the chicks into staying close to the adults despite the bossing about they get.
The bantams here are better at this than either the Marans or the crosses. They lose a lot less chicks at that stage.

 

[Shadrach]

It is a combination. It takes two generations for me to get birds to launch like pheasant when frightened. My dual purpose do not have the same capacity for extreme predator avoidance even when reared under similar conditions.

I think two generations is about right here as well but a lot has depended on breed and the mother. I think it may in part be that a chick with mother gains confidence in its surroundings and if badly taught by the mother they are overconfident once separated.

 

[Molpet]

That does agree with what I've found. There is a period shortly after the mother has finished full time care, that the chicks roam as a group separate from the adults. I lose chicks in this period. If they make a couple of weeks by then they have learn't which adults to avoid, sorted out their own hierarchy amd move with the group. Unfortunately it has often taken the life of a chick through predation to frighten (?) the chicks into staying close to the adults despite the bossing about they get.
The bantams here are better at this than either the Marans or the crosses. They lose a lot less chicks at that stage.

currently I have a turkey hen whose eggs failed and she took over a chickens nest that was about to hatch. The 2 chicks are now 16 wks old and she sleeps in the trees but the chicks can't get into the tree (weight due to being part cx) ,so they sleep in the coop. The turkey hen still cares for them during the day, lets them eat with her and makes sure no one else runs them.
Thank goodness they are pullets, because I would have problems getting them for processing. She was upset when I grabbed 2 jakes, from her first hatch this year, for dinner. But she was more worried about covering her current brood than saving her older ones.

 

[centrarchid]

I think two generations is about right here as well but a lot has depended on breed and the mother. I think it may in part be that a chick with mother gains confidence in its surroundings and if badly taught by the mother they are overconfident once separated.

Then hen's ability to "teach" is also a function of her upbringing.

 

[Beer can]

I really need some of these soup recipes. I mean, us old ladies and their soup.

I make a bone broth.
I have a old four qt presto pressure cooker, one of those 'instant pot' thingy's would work about the same I think. I put the whole bird in, can even still be froze comes out just as done. A really large bird doesn't fit very good and sometimes have to cut the leg knuckles off and toss them in. Medium large birds fit just fine.
I pressure cook for only 20mins, any longer and you risk opening it up to a mixed up mess of meat and little bones. I go the 20mins (even a tough old bird will fall apart) and then rip the weight off with a towel, make sure your ready to drop the towel on the cooker if it starts spewing (depends on how much water you put in it, dw doesn't like it when it spews all over the hood and stove lol)
You can wait till it cools down and the pressure comes off it won't be a mess but does cook longer, just be very very careful pulling the bird out it will be about falling apart. Debone the meat set aside in the fridge. Put the bones (I chop them up with poultry shears)back in the pot with chopped carrots celery onions I like to add some cabbage sometimes for xtra flavor, water to cover. Couple tablespoons of vinegar (it helps release the minerals, and you will not taste the vinegar) Pressure cook the carcass for a few hrs (actually doesn't use much energy because once the pressure is up you turn the heat all the way down and it still stays under pressure). Cool down in the fridge over night. Take the fat off the top, the rest if done right will be like thick jelly until it gets hot again. If not you just used too much water but no biggie all the good is still in it. You don't have to do this I don't know if it adds to it but I do occasionally, smash the bones and vegis with a tater masher the bones will be soft, and pressure cook a few more hrs.
Cool off, strain, add back to the pot add new carrots onions a little celery and cook till almost tender, add the chopped meat and egg noodles , cook till egg noodles are done, season to taste, best chicken soup ever.
When you refrigerate left overs turns into chicken soup solid jello, looks kinda gross but as soon as you heat it up again it liquefies.
We make homemade egg noodles but store bought is fine. My kids love making them, easy to do and we just have a cheapie I think it was $35 pasta machine.

 

[pelicanchook]

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.

 

[pelicanchook]

Fabulous article, thank you for working out all the maths, way beyond my capabilities. I have chickens just because I like chickens - their eggs are a bonus which I usually give away to others because I just couldn't eat that many. I would absolutely NOT be able to eat any of my girls, although I am not a vegetarian. However, I have found that since becoming a chicken owner I can no longer eat chicken at all. Since other meats are becoming prohibitively expensive, I am becoming a vegetarian by default!

 

[Conan]

This project wants to produce a small brochure with each chicken meal with pictures and text that show the conditions the chicken was kept in. The selling point being the chicken on your plate led as near to a natural life as it is possible to give. I have my doubts about the success of such a project but if you can charge enough for the meal then in theory at least one could make it profitable.
These chickens are not to be the typical overweight meat, or dual purpose breeds that are popular in the US.
A few of the more intelligent posters seem to have understood that this is a model and is unrealistic for the average backyard keeper. Perhaps they did read the post I've linked to above.

As one of those posters of "lesser" intelligence, I offer this: