how many chicks?

[ellent]

Hello! I am just getting started on this project--planning stages right now. Here's the first of probably MANY questions about raising chicks: I want to have 4 hens (we are allowed up to 6 in my city). How likely is it that I will end up with 4 hens from 4 chicks? What I'm asking is, should I expect a certain mortality rate as a new chick raiser? And, if I do lose 1 or 2, how long do I have to try to replace them? I assume that once the first set of chicks get to a certain size, any new chicks would be vulnerable to bullying, crushing
or other tragedies.

 

[HEChicken]

There are so many factors involved that it is really difficult to give you a good answer. If you asked 100 people, half of them would tell you they had no fatalities in their first year of chicken keeping and others would tell you they lost half their flock! Much will depend on the security of your coop/run - in other words, how predator proof it is. And, while there ARE chicken illnesses, you could keep them for years and not see illness, or keep them only a few months and have one thing after another crop up.

Honestly, if it were me, I would start with 6, since that is the number you are allowed to have. This allows for loss of one or two, but there is just as good a chance you'll have 6 laying hens six months from now! You are correct that adding new hens later will be tricky. There are many topics on here related to integration but the bottom line is that integration is rarely immediate and can be a cause of casualties in and of itself. So if you can keep six, I personally think it would be better to get all six now and if you end up with an excess of eggs, well, you'll be very popular among your friends, or possibly even be able to sell a few dozen and have your pets become profitable!

 

[popcornpuppy]

Hi and welcome to BYC

I think everyone has had good and bad experiences with ordering day old chicks. Alot of it depends on the hatchery, how close or far away you are from them, what time of year you order, what the outside temps are like, what breed you order and so on.

For example, I ordered chicks from Ideal in Texas. I live in Massachusetts. I got them the next day and all were alive. I placed 3 orders with Ideal all in the summer months and never lost a chick in shipping. I ordered all large breed, hearty breeds. (Rhode Island Reds, Barred Rocks, Leghorns). Some breeds are more fragile and don't deal with shipping stress well. I would do a search on this site and see the kinds of feedback that folks have given to the various hatcheries, and what kind of mortality rates they have had from shipping. I expected up to a 20% loss and had 0%. I was very lucky and now I have too many chickens

Good luck

 

[MudPie]

I agree w/ HEChicken's plan. Get six. Also, I assume you know not to order Straightrun, since you are looking for hens. Good luck!