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

[Shadrach]

It will be very interested in learning how this goes. I hope you post on the project.

I think the people who own the land and who are setting the project up are going to do a blog about it.
I did take a few pictures of bits of the land.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/byc-café.948525/page-5659#post-21975426

 

[Molpet]

similar, but for eggs

"......It didn’t take Massimo Rapella too long to notice the positive effects life in the wild had on his chickens. They looked healthier – had shinier feathers and brightly-colored wattles – and their eggs had a richer taste. That’s when he came up with the idea of selling his now famous “uovo di selva” 0r “egg of the woods” to direct consumers and restaurants.

“I started wondering if I could take on more chickens and create an ‘Alpine egg’ to sell in local markets,” the farmer said. He had started out with just four chickens, but by 2013 he already had 700 of them, and there are now about 2,100 living in his mountainous forest. He gathers about 1,300 eggs from them every morning...."

https://www.odditycentral.com/anima...YV25V6SrkBPz5ODJtxnrXOpKgIJwZS0yFCUp3XLySR2rc

 

[Kusanar]

I was curious, so, I made a spreadsheet.

My assumptions are below and I intentionally made the numbers on the low end of production:
Start with 10 hens + rooster
Eat all cockerels at 5 months old (20 weeks)
Eat all hens after they have been laying for 1 year
Hens start laying at 6 months old
Using a 27 egg incubator and hatching 1 clutch per month.
Each hen lays every other day
80% hatch rate in the incubator

By 19 months you will have leveled out to steady production and will be eating 21 birds per month and will have 1,737 extra eggs to eat or sell per month.

You will have a max of 126 laying hens due to new ones coming into lay and old ones being eaten each month.

If you wanted to eat the pullets at 5 months as well, you could easily hatch more to get more meat and less eggs by adding another incubator or a larger one.

If you do not eat hens at all, even old ones, then they just keep multiplying exponentially.

That seems like it would be a pretty decent protein source and only having 1 hatch per month and 1 dispatch day. You will need 2 brooders and 3 grow outs for the cockerels + maybe a introduction pen for the young pullets when they leave the brooder. 1 Month of integration seems like it would be enough time per reading on here and then the next batch could have that area.

As there are never more than 21 chicks per brooder or 10-11 cockerels per grow out, it doesn't seem like it would take a massive amount of space for anything but the laying hens which are producing a TON of extra eggs and really don't need to all be kept as the original 10 hens leaves 113 extra eggs the first month (10 hens * 30 days = 300 potential eggs, they are only laying every other day, so only 150 potential eggs, 27 go in the incubator leaving 113 to eat)

So, if you don't want to keep increasing the number of hens you could eat the extra 10-11 pullets each month leaving you with 31-32 birds to eat each month and 113 eggs... which for a 4 person family would equal to 1 bird per day per person + 28 eggs per person per day.... I guess these are a family of weightlifters.

 

[Kris5902]

Something else to take into consideration in all these hypothetical “how many chickens” scenarios is... what about winter? Winter brooding and incubation isn’t always an option due to climate, and the number of eggs will drop significantly in the winter months unless supplemental lighting is used. So without switching to a more comercial style confinement system to control the environmental conditions the bulk of the chicken for eating would probably need to be put into the freezer during spring and summer, maybe early fall. With a 3-4 month grow out time on the cockerels (assuming heritage birds, not commercial type broilers) that’s going to further limit the time in which the products can be produced. This is where seasonal eating and smaller portions would definitely need to come into play.

 

[Meg-in-MT]

Unfortunately, at the moment, the only meat that I buy from the store is chicken. And that's only maybe a handful of times a year. We butcher a hog and a beef (that we raise) once a year. We do not personally do the butchering, which has been my hang-up.

The chickens are next...

Someone said it's unrealistic to eat meat at every meal (or was it every day). Is that true for many? I've got one meatless meal that I make, all others have some type of meat

Once we start butchering chickens, we will buy zero meat from the grocery store. Which, to me and many others, is a pretty big deal. I realize that wasn't the point of your thread, Shad, but I wanted to throw my situation in the mix. I also realize that my husband and boys and I are not going to shut down, quite literally, anything. But our meat sure is better than store bought

 

[Canuck88]

Unfortunately, at the moment, the only meat that I buy from the store is chicken. And that's only maybe a handful of times a year. We butcher a hog and a beef (that we raise) once a year. We do not personally do the butchering, which has been my hang-up.

The chickens are next...

Someone said it's unrealistic to eat meat at every meal (or was it every day). Is that true for many? I've got one meatless meal that I make, all others have some type of meat

Once we start butchering chickens, we will buy zero meat from the grocery store. Which, to me and many others, is a pretty big deal. I realize that wasn't the point of your thread, Shad, but I wanted to throw my situation in the mix. I also realize that my husband and boys and I are not going to shut down, quite literally, anything. But our meat sure is better than store bought

This is our end goal as well. Right now we do buy our meat from the store and I really want to get away from that. I think what you’re doing is great and 100% makes a difference for your family!

 

[Meg-in-MT]

This is our end goal as well. Right now we do buy our meat from the store and I really want to get away from that. I think what you’re doing is great and 100% makes a difference for your family!

Thanks, Canuck! Going back to store bought, having eaten our own for so long, just isn't an option for me. But, I suppose, that's a luxury in itself. Being able to raise our own meat (of all kinds).

And you're right, way better for our family I wish you much luck in getting there yourself! Have you looked into sourcing local meats? I do know how expensive that can be, though.

My next big goal is on the vegetable side of it. Gardens are hard

 

[aart]

Someone said it's unrealistic to eat meat at every meal (or was it every day). Is that true for many? I've got one meatless meal that I make, all others have some type of meat

I suppose I could go meatless, some meals are...
....but I like meat and will continue to eat it.
Veg is a good part of a balanced diet tho.
The whole new 'plant based' fad is BS....IMO.

Gardens are hard

Indeed!! Not just growing them, but preserving them.

 

[Meg-in-MT]

I suppose I could go meatless, some meals are...
....but I like meat and will continue to eat it.
Veg is a good part of a balanced diet tho.
The whole new 'plant based' fad is BS....IMO.

Indeed!! Not just growing them, but preserving them.

That's what I struggle with, the preservation part of it. I'm also not good at "try and fail". Better at "not trying" and then being annoyed with myself. I know, I know...it's ridiculous Nobody fights with me more than me.

Another thing I struggle with is getting enough variety in my diet. Some would be appalled at the amount of meat and 'taters we eat. It's a work in progress.

Far too many fad diets out there, in my opinion. Everyone needs to try to be more in tune with their bodies and stop relying on the "internets" and the "googles" to tell them how they should live.

 

[Molpet]

I suppose I could go meatless, some meals are...
....but I like meat and will continue to eat it.
Veg is a good part of a balanced diet tho.
The whole new 'plant based' fad is BS....IMO.

Indeed!! Not just growing them, but preserving them.

They claim the people who live the longest eat mainly veggies. I know my weight, colesteral goes up if I mainly eat meat. At least this summer when my garden wasn't very good and I didn't go to the store and buy any veggies. I was eating beef and pork from local farmers... And my turkeys and chickens.