how many chicks to get?

[chciken 26]

I made another poll to see what breed I should get but, how many should I get? I have a flock. My climate is cold in the winter with snow and warm in the summer at tops 97 degrees. I have a chicken run with a medium amount of space.

 

[The-White-Elephant]

I made another poll to see what breed I should get but, how many should I get?

How much space do you have?

 

[chciken 26]

for chickens in my current flock?

 

[The-White-Elephant]

for chickens in my current flock?

Sorry. How much do you have available ?

 

[chciken 26]

as many as I want like unlimited

 

[The-White-Elephant]

as many as I want like unlimitedAwesome

 

[SpicyDisaster]

What is the square footage of your coop and run? How much roosting space do you have? We chose our chick volume by the readily available space for them.

 

[rosemarythyme]

as many as I want like unlimited

What is "unlimited" - how large in sq ft is the actual coop, and how large in sq ft is the run? How many sq ft in ventilation? How much roost space is there?

The number of birds you should have is what fits within the confines of your set up. Like I can legally have thousands of birds, but by actual coop space I'm limited to 12.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

@rosemarythyme is right. We cannot advise you until we know the dimensions of your coop and run, and how many birds you already have. It would be irresponsible of us to tell you, for example, to get 50 more birds if you only have room for 10 and you already have 20.

 

[3KillerBs]

What are the dimensions of your coop and your run? How are you set up? What arrangements do you have for integration?

The Usual Guidelines

For each adult, standard-sized hen you need:

• 4 square feet in the coop (.37 square meters)
• 10 square feet in the run (.93 square meters),
• 1 linear foot of roost (.3 meters),
• 1/4 of a nest box,
• And 1 square foot (.09 square meters) of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

But integrating new birds, even chicks, takes up extra space.

Here are some useful articles for you:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/how-much-room-do-chickens-need.66180/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/integrating-new-birds-at-4-weeks-old.72603/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/my-coop-brooder-and-integration.74591/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/introducing-new-chickens-using-the-“see-but-don’t-touch”-method.67839/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/adding-to-your-flock.47756/

Once you figure out what you actually have space for, I suggest that you get twice that many chicks, choose the ones you like best/the strongest and healthiest ones, and SELL the rest -- but ONLY if you're not the type to get sentimentally attached and be unable to actually go through with the sale.

P.S. I don't think I saw your poll on breeds so here's my advice about that question: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/go-ahead-pick-the-prettiest-chickens.76277/