How many chickens?

[K&H Chicken Farm]

OK I now have a huge bator and I have a cliental for meat birds. I am trying to figure out how many layers would I need to get 25 eggs a week for hatching. Also would I need one roo or two?

I want at least 25 chicks a week. Should I go for a higher number of eggs?

Thanks,
Shelly

 

[ibpboo]

I'd say a couple of roos. Usually a hen lays one egg a day so a minimum of 25 hens, I'd probably go with more though just to make sure I had the 25.

 

[rooster-red]

How many hens you would need will depend on the breed, some breeds lay almost everyday, some only lay twice a week and others lay in between these numbers.

If you need 25 chicks a week remember that hatches will be every 21 days and not all eggs will be fertile and not all that are set will make it to hatch, so you will need more than 25 eggs per week.

 

[K&H Chicken Farm]

Is the avg. 2 egs per 3 hens a day? I am looking at Black Australorp.

 

[rooster-red]

K&H Chicken Farm :

Is the avg. 2 egs per 3 hens a day? I am looking at Black Australorp.

According to what I've read they avg. 4 eggs per week per hen.​

 

[ibpboo]

Black Australorp are good meat birds? I would say that sounds like a good average for eggs. At one time i had 12 chickens and i pretty much got dozen eggs a day, except during molting.

 

[ibpboo]

By the way, how are you surviving all that weather in Redding right now?!!

 

[silkiechicken]

Two eggs per three hens is pretty safe for the first two or three years of laying. They will decline after that. You say you have meat customers though... are they expecting skinny regular birds or the kind you find in the store. If they are looking for store kind, they are cornish x and the parent strains are priority, so you'll have to spend a few years developing your strain or buying the cornish x meat birds.

 

[K&H Chicken Farm]

TY Every one

ibpboo : they are a combo bird and a heavy.

We are getting ready to blow away hear. I am woried about the new hen we got. She may end up in the house tonight.

silkiechicken : it is the asian market here in town and I talked to a couple for quite a bit. They want "real chickens" brown. red or black with good feet and darker legs. They bought all 5 of the 2 year old roos we had today in 3 min. and wanted more...they where large bantom crosses

 

[K&H Chicken Farm]

OK let me run this by you.

I went with the model of 3 chickens would give me 12 eggs a week. So 9 would give me 36. Looking at that number I could lose 11 eggs out of a hatch and still make my 25 chicks a week number.
Does that sound just about right?

So I could go with a pure breed pen of 9 hens and 2 roos, and hopefuly be OK.

Doing this I can pull any hens out of the bunch that are of better qulity to improve my flock.

Thank guys for letting me bounce this off or you. It is helping me think and the imput is great!
Shelly