How many hens for a 4 person household?/Potential oversupply??

[MegsAndFeatheredFriends]

How many laying hens do you have, and how many eggs do you regularly collect?

I have 3 pullets but i'm considering getting more. We have 1 orpington and 2 sussex at the moment. I want to get Easter eggers too for more consistent egg laying, but I'm also interested in other breeds (as well as EE) because, well, they're pretty.

I'm concerned that I haven't looked into the ongoing costs of keeping chickens enough (although I know our current lot are covered), and maybe I don't even need more..?


How many hens would you recommend for my egg loving household? And will I be inundated with eggs if I have up to 8 hens? We go through about 1-1.5 dozen each week.

 

[ChickenChick46]

I'm very new to chickens, and I don't have much experience with how many eggs per week specific breeds lay, etc. My family goes through about 4 dozen eggs per week. I cook breakfast 7 days a week, plus whatever is used randomly for other recipes. There are 5 of us. None of my chickens lay yet as they're all too young. But realistically, I think I could have 2 dozen hens and never have an overload of eggs.

So I think a good starting point for you is to narrow down which breeds you want first. See how many eggs per week they typically lay, and do the math from there with how many birds you'll actually get times eggs per week for your total. See how it compares to your typical consumption in your home. Adjust as needed if you want just enough eggs or some to save/sell.

As for costs, have you heard of the Flockstar app? It's great for tracking expenses and any money in, like if you sell your eggs or chicks, etc. I love the app, and so far I'm only using it to keep track of my flock members and track my expenses like feed. But it'll be able to track egg collection, breeding info, etc as I get to that point. It isn't free, it's $50 a year or $5.99 a month. But for me, it's worth it as I thrive on the organization.

ETA- your birds are beautiful!

 

[DobieLover]

Easter eggers too for more consistent egg laying

They are no more consistent than the ones you have. And when you get them you will have no idea what they will grow up to look like as they are all hybrids.

inundated with eggs if I have up to 8 hens?

You would have a lot of eggs. Far more than you currently consume. In your first year. But next year, it would drop off and you would have nearly nothing during the short days of winter. Then production would kick back up in late January or so depending on your location.

Hens lay larger but fewer eggs each year as they age. And they stop laying when they molt and during the winter or lay at a much reduced rate. The only way you're going to have eggs year-round is if you replace your 18 to 24 month old hens with new pullets every year. You can do that by getting a rooster and hatching your own eggs or by purchasing new sexed chicks.

ongoing costs

These include bedding, dewormer, medication when they are injured or sick, lice/mite treatment or preventative care, oyster shell, quality feed purchased in small volume at retail prices not wholesale by the ton, electricity if you have to keep water and nest boxes from freezing during winter.

You will never produce eggs at a price lower than what you can purchase them for in the supermarket. That's not the main reason why most of backyard chicken keepers have them. They want a food source that they control, where they know that the animals are being treated kindly and humanely. I will never recoup the cost of my setup in my birds. I currently eat the most expensive eggs I've ever eaten in my life.

However I have the lowest cost therapy and stress relief too. And I enjoy the hobby immensely.

 

[ChickenChick46]

They are no more consistent than the ones you have. And when you get them you will have no idea what they will grow up to look like as they are all hybrids.

You would have a lot of eggs. Far more than you currently consume. In your first year. But next year, it would drop off and you would have nearly nothing during the short days of winter. Then production would kick back up in late January or so depending on your location.

Hens lay larger but fewer eggs each year as they age. And they stop laying when they molt and during the winter or lay at a much reduced rate. The only way you're going to have eggs year-round is if you replace your 18 to 24 month old hens with new pullets every year. You can do that by getting a rooster and hatching your own eggs or by purchasing new sexed chicks.


These include bedding, dewormer, medication when they are injured or sick, lice/mite treatment or preventative care, oyster shell, quality feed purchased in small volume at retail prices not wholesale by the ton, electricity if you have to keep water and nest boxes from freezing during winter.

You will never produce eggs at a price lower than what you can purchase them for in the supermarket. That's not the main reason why most of backyard chicken keepers have them. They want a food source that they control, where they know that the animals are being treated kindly and humanely. I will never recoup the cost of my setup in my birds. I currently eat the most expensive eggs I've ever eaten in my life.

However I have the lowest cost therapy and stress relief too. And I enjoy the hobby immensely.

All of this. It could not have been said more perfectly.

We have probably a thousand dollars in coop and run materials, plus my husband's time to build it. And we oak to expand the run. Plus the needed supplies to brood chicks. Plus the feed, the list goes on. These eggs (when I start getting them, and I have bantams right now so tiny and fewer eggs) will be worth their weight in gold. But watching my chickens do their chicken thing? Totally worth every dime spent and then some.

 

[DobieLover]

realistically, I think I could have 2 dozen hens and never have an overload of eggs.

See above.

Last year I was running a flock of approximately 24 hens and my rooster. The hens ranged in age from 1 to 6 years old. With most of them being five to six years old. They were producing over 4 dozen eggs a week during peak season. When the molt started, there were many days I had no eggs at all. And when I did find an egg, it was from my 1-year-old. In order to get through the winter with eggs for baking, I dehydrated my excess eggs during the summer months. They do not taste as good as fresh eggs but got me through the winter without having to buy the eggs of tortured chickens. That's what I like to call store-bought eggs.

Those numbers that are quoted for how many eggs a bird of a specific breed will lay only apply to the first year they are in production. Everything slows down as they age. Just like with us! And what if something gets in and kills half of your chickens? Predator-proofing is an expense I neglected to mention in the above reply. That can be very expensive indeed.

2 years ago I decided to track my expenses and my chicken produced income. That income also included selling off buckets of my chickens manure and bedding compost. By the end of the year I had managed to recoup almost 75% of my expenses. Which I considered to be extremely successful.

 

[Briarhopper Ranch]

+1 what @ChickenChick46 has to say about the FlockStar app. So much more convenient than spreadsheets or notepads, in my humble opinion. Just log expenses / eggs / etc. on the go and the charts are there ready for you.

Also +1 what @DobieLover says about waiting for next year to add to your flock so that you are rotating in fresh producers. Note my perspective is that I have plenty of space to retire my old biddies. Others choose to cull at first or second molt for efficiency. You need to decide for yourself how to approach aging egg layers.

Good luck on your chicken journey!

 

[DobieLover]

thousand dollars in coop and run materials

Lucky you! Between my first coop

and my current shed to coop conversion with attached run surrounded by electrified poultry netting,

I have at least $3,500 into it.

Plus the needed supplies to brood chicks

This is the way to go and it's free. But guess what? Each broody hen is one less egg producer!

 

[ChickenChick46]

See above.

Last year I was running a flock of approximately 24 hens and my rooster. The hens ranged in age from 1 to 6 years old. With most of them being five to six years old. They were producing over 4 dozen eggs a week during peak season. When the molt started, there were many days I had no eggs at all. And when I did find an egg, it was from my 1-year-old. In order to get through the winter with eggs for baking, I dehydrated my excess eggs during the summer months. They do not taste as good as fresh eggs but got me through the winter without having to buy the eggs of tortured chickens. That's what I like to call store-bought eggs.

Those numbers that are quoted for how many eggs a bird of a specific breed will lay only apply to the first year they are in production. Everything slows down as they age. Just like with us! And what if something gets in and kills half of your chickens? Predator-proofing is an expense I neglected to mention in the above reply. That can be very expensive indeed.

2 years ago I decided to track my expenses and my chicken produced income. That income also included selling off buckets of my chickens manure and bedding compost. By the end of the year I had managed to recoup almost 75% of my expenses. Which I considered to be extremely successful.

That is great! I never thought about selling bedding for compost.

I definitely plan on adding new birds every year to keep young layers in my flock. As long as all goes well, I'll be doing so through hatching my own. I do have my bantams, but my main egg flock is going to be Orpingtons. My bantams' eggs will be bonuses.

Predator proofing is definitely an expensive and 100% necessary process. The hardware cloth alone isn't cheap. But it's way better than losing your whole flock.

 

[DobieLover]

selling bedding for compost.

I'm not selling the used bedding. I'm selling the compost. The compost that took me two years to produce. And that's after I take what I need for my vegetable garden beds. This year I did not have an excess because I expanded my pond landscaping.

 

[ChickenChick46]

Lucky you! Between my first coop
View attachment 4215286
and my current shed to coop conversion with attached run surrounded by electrified poultry netting,
View attachment 4215287
I have at least 3,500 into it.


This is the way to go and it's free. But guess what? Each broody hen is one less egg producer!
View attachment 4215284View attachment 4215285

Yeah by the time we add the second coop and get the fence completed around the old garden, and add the expanded, fully enclosed run, I think we'll probably be up in that expense range too. Your setup is amazing!

I do want to allow broodys to hatch out eggs. I'm hoping my bantams will be my broodys and then I can use the incubator mostly for my Orpingtons. But it'll all come down to what the chickens want.