How many should I have in my flock ?

[rosaline]

I have a small garden and my neighbours are close to my house. I asked my Landlord if I could keep chickens and to my surprise he said yes. But only if they dont anoy the neighbours. My boyfriend said that I should just have two. I read in a post that 4 keeps the coop warm. I live in England and it is cold alot of the year. I would have loads if I could get away with it

I am going to get sussex chickens and I dont know how noisy they are.

Any info welcomed.................Thankyou x

 

[rosaline]

Oooops.......I must of hit the submit button twice

 

[kindir]

I know someone who has one hen (he had more but they died and he doesn't want chickens anymore after his last one goes). I think one chicken would be lonely though, so I'd say a minimum of 2. If you can provide a draft-free coop the temperature won't matter. I live in the Northeastern U.S. and it's been about 4 degrees Farenheit here lately at night and I had 3 chickens in a coop who did just fine. It is in the garage though so there is NO draft (but it's not heated either).

I don't know about your specific breed of chicken, but none of my hens are terribly loud except when they are laying and they can make a slight racket for a couple of minutes. Then again, I have 2 roosters who make up for that by crowing loudly at every opportunity!!

 

[mom'sfolly]

Two would probably be enough for the egg needs of a couple of people, providing you don't eat a couple of eggs every morning. Two would be a minimum, because chickens are social animals. Four might be better, so you can keep your neighbors sweet with extra eggs. I started with four and now have 11. This is an ongoing issue for most people on this forum, they start with few and end up with many.

 

[DuckLady]

Duplicate. Since this one has more replies,
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=284764
lets take the discussion there. Thanks.