How Many PET Chickens Are In Your Flock?

[Fishychix]

Ohio does not have a minimum on how many you can own, just how many you can buy. You have to buy 6 minimum if you get them at a farm store. But you can get any amount from craigslist or somewhere else. Its only stores that have to follow that 6 minimum law. And I have named every chicken I have owned. But I do get rid of them if they stop laying eggs. I give them away for free on craigslist to a good home. Only had to do that once so far. I just gave away my first group of 5 ladies I ever had. Their names were Mini T-Rex, Violet, Charlotte, Reba, and Aviva. I miss them terribly but I will not keep and feed farm animals that can't feed me back. I did not get them for pets, but for their eggs. But if your chickens are pets, awesome! To each his own!

Great! Thanks for that. Obviously that information isn’t easy to come by, lol. I’m so glad I’m on this site.

 

[Real Chick]

Wow I was planning on 5 max am I delusional?

Possibly.

 

[FluffyBottomBantams]

All of ours are pets( with the benefits of being show birds, and egg layers....sometimes) not sure how many exactly we have lol. And we don’t say the exact amount of roosters we have out loud...

 

[Sharon W]

I have a bakers dozen...13. Most of them have names but I can’t tell some of them apart until I get leg charms.

 

[bmurphy349]

I intended to have 6. Started with 3 then ordered 4 more. Lost 1. Then, when one of my "hens" from the second order turned out to be a roo, I got 2 hatchings of 6 more. That's 12 total at this point (if you don't want to bother doing the math).

They all have names. They will all get to live out their lives with us. ...except possibly the roo if he can't learn some manners.

Six to eight was really the right number for my coop and run and also for our needs. I've adjusted by letting my chickens out during the day into a protected chicken yard that -- including the run which stays open all day -- about triples the size of their daytime habitat. And, in this way, we'll work our way back to 6 or 8. All of whom will be hens -- tho I still have a roo. ...I just won't let any of the hens go broody again even if we had GREAT experiences both incubating chicks and getting baby chicks the natural way with a Mama Hen.

We live and keep our chickens on a 1/2 acre suburban lot that's probably a lot more urban than most parts of the country.

My daughter started us with 8. And then she ate some. So I got more. My goal is to have 20 but when I get close, I lose one or two. Currently we have 18 that includes 3 babies that just went into the big coop. Most of them are named.

 

[bmurphy349]

I have a bakers dozen...13. Most of them have names but I can’t tell some of them apart until I get leg charms.

Leg charms ???

 

[Flockincrazy]

How do you keep your quail? I just started with mine. I have considerably less, lol!

I built a king size pen just for them it is 4'x12'×4' I originally ordered 150quail eggs 147 of them hatched then my daughter ordered 60 eggs without asking and of course we had 100% hatch we had intended on taking them to my mom without my dad knowing and he figured us out somehow so I had to keep them lol there pen is connected to my main coop here is an old pic before it was finished i did build on to it but my addition isn't finished yet to accommodate the extra 60quail

 

[HappyClucker7]

Funny thing is, we're also looking at getting rabbits, but I have no problem using them for meat; not the buck and doe, of course, but their kits are fair game. The way I see it, by the time the first litter is ready for market, either as pets or as meat, the doe should be almost ready to birth her next litter. Of course rabbits are adorable, but I don't see myself getting as attached by just watching the younglings hop around as I have been watching my chooks grow up.

If you couldn't eat your chickens, then you definitely won't be able to eat your rabbits.
I had a bunny for 9 years, and I absolutely loved her. Most people don't realize how sweet and affectionate rabbits are. They think they are just dumb animals that hop around and eat hay, but that's not true. Rabbits are like cats. My rabbit would sit on my lap for hours and just sleep or lick my arms. I would even take her into my bed in the morning and cuddle with her.
You will definitely get attached to the bunnies, and then you'll end up with a whole litter that you don't know what to do with.

 

[Fishychix]

I built a king size pen just for them it is 4'x12'×4' I originally ordered 150quail eggs 147 of them hatched then my daughter ordered 60 eggs without asking and of course we had 100% hatch we had intended on taking them to my mom without my dad knowing and he figured us out somehow so I had to keep them lol there pen is connected to my main coop here is an old pic before it was finished i did build on to it but my addition isn't finished yet to accommodate the extra 60quail

I wasn’t sure if that would be okay because of possible cross contamination. That type of setup would work great for me in terms of chores. After I move out of the city, of course.

 

[Sonya9]

Yup. They have a minimum to buy to help prevent, in their words, single pet chickens (why do they care?) and selling them as easter presents. I wish I could remember the actual ORC code so I could just paste it here.

I believe Tractor Supply has a similar policy. It is likely intended to prevent people buying chicks as "toys" for birthday parties and Easter. Though the law likely applies to purchase and not ownership since obviously birds pass on etc...

Really glad my local feed store doesn't have a minimum since I usually only buy 2-3 chicks at a time for a broody hen. Course this is a rural area, virtually no one buys them as a kids toy.