I can't believe how many chickens you guys have

[mendogurl]

Quote:
I bought 7 pullets just for something to do and have our own eggs again after 20 years without..

that was 3 years ago. I now have 55 laying buff orpingtons 2 roosters........14 guineas,,5 chocolate muscovy ducks,,,,,,,26 royal palm turkeys,,,,,,,and with the 5 geese i bought at the auction last saturday, 4 pairs of geese.. last summer I gave away my last 30 button quail.

my brother just won 5 pheasants at a bucks unlimited banquet that he is going to bring to me..

Now hatching season is coming up so I am getting geared up fo that..

I sold over 300 assorted birds last year. I have 9 incubators with a capacity of about 600 ..

I can feed and water all the birds in about 15 to 20 minutes....

OMG !!!!

 

[lil'chickies]

I'm addicted. I have 60 in the brooder right now!!

I hope to have enough eggs to sustain us and make a little cash on the side. We have the room to build a huge coop, but this is a good start. I also hope to supply our house with meat. I'll get meat chickens next and stock my freezer! Some people say they have a hard time killing their chickens, but I was raised that you utilize what you raise or it's a waste. We butcher goats, cows, and soon chickens. We eat a lot of chicken, so I will need a lot of birds!!

Trying to talk hubby into turkey for the same thing! We could eat turkey once a month.

 

[Cetawin]

Well it did not start out this way honestly.

I bought 6 girls yes that would be enough for us sure...then there were the 5 little australorps at the feed store all alone and then there was the OH I want some of these and these hence the ordered 21 more.

Yes well, the extra eggs are sold and given away.

 

[Brickman House]

We're a family of 4, and have 15 hens laying, and another 20 in the brooder as we speak.

We probably use 2-3 dozen eggs a week ourselves, and have had NO problem selling and giving away the extras!

My daughter carries poultry as a 4-H project, and has started her own little egg selling business. It's been great for teaching her to track expenses and income, and between friends, neighbors, family, and the people at both my and my husband's offices, there are times when we barely have enough for ourselves. We also bring them along as hostess gifts when we get invited to someone's house, or as a thank you gift when someone's done us a favor.

We ordered more chicks this year in large part because we've been so successful at selling the eggs (and just in part because we like the chickens!), and don't anticipate having any problem getting rid of the additional eggs when the new girls start laying this summer.

 

[AnKa]

This post scares me and I think it would scare the pants off my husband.
I hope I don't have to build a bigger coop next year! I really want to just keep 6 but I am already up to 7 because I want to try out all sorts of breeds! And I still don't have any silkies or polish yet....

 

[Bluedog420]

By the 29th...Good Lord willing...I hope to have 510 big stock chick's peeping around here...oh and I ordered 100 too....But I ain't hooked

 

[Wifezilla]

What are you talking about?!?!? I don't have ANY Chickens!!!!

:::quickly hides her 3 adult ducks, 1 duckling, and throws a blanket over the incubator with 4 eggs in it::::

 

[KinderKorner]

I started with 4 chickens. Then I ordered 25 more, bought some. And went up to about 70. Then all but 23 disappeared or sold. Now I have 25 chicks hatched, 25 in the incubator, 25 coming in the mail in 2 weeks and 23 older chickens. And broody hen setting some. Overall I plan on keeping about 100 this year. And the rest I will sell at a local market. I started with one coop subdived into two, and they all get let out every day to free range. But now I am starting fancy breeds, so I have just build 6 coops and attached runs, and a community pasture.

For a grand total of 8 coops. 100 chickens, and around 30+ chicks at any time that I will hatch and raise to sell monthly. And I am a small scale hobby farmer. Infact 3/4 of the chickens around here all have names and are pets.

It only takes like 15 minutes to feed and water my chickens everyday.

It's really not that difficult.

Oh and since my chickens free range sometimes they like to lay elsewhere. So I only get about 6-10 eggs a day out of 18 hens. But I expect many more as soon as the chicks grow and are put into theur enclosed coops and runs. But it's amazing how many people around want fresh eggs. They really just come out of no where. If you give away a few dozen, soon you have tons of people wanting eggs. lol We have more customers than we have eggs. It's really not a problem.

 

[lisahaschickens]

I am a newbie to chickens and I currently have 15 4 week-old chicks out in the coop, and there is only thw two of us in the house for now. My number one reason for getting the chickens is to produce my own eggs, and hopefully someday, my own meat (gotta learn to slaughter them first). I want to be as self-sufficient and as green as possible in my life, and I hope to someday raise children that way. Plus, the eggs are way yummier, no? I've had plenty of free-range, organic eggs from stores and farmers' markets and the like. None of them have ever been as good and rich and orange-yolked as the homegrown ones from family and friends! Either way, I don't want to support industrial farming and I love know that my chickens have had the best life possible while producing the food they give me. Even if that means killing them - isn't that better than eating a chicken that was mistreated and pumped full of chemicals its whole life? I personally believe that if you are going to eat chicken, that you should be able to kill one yourself (keep in mind, this is my belief... not yet my practice, but I am working on it).

Anyway, the other reason is that I have a bit of a pet addiction and I love raising things! Chickens are just one more fun project

As for the extra eggs - I think I'll have 11 hens if I'm right and I have 4 roos (still figuring that out - if so, I will only keep 1-2). That will mean, I think, 6-11 eggs per day. That's too many for 2 people, but my next door neighbors raise sheep and share the meat with us (so awesome) and they're excited about the upcoming eggs, plus it'll be a great way to make friends with the other neighbors and maybe even reclaim a little money to cover the cost of feed

 

[mendogurl]

Quote:
I really like what you're saying about using the chickens and eggs to teach the kids many lessons of life. Our kids classes will be touring our "farm" at the end of the spring as a teaching tool. And I love the idea of eggs as gifts. That's fantastic.
Now I hope I will have enough eggs !!!!!

(2 Rhode Islands, 2 Plymouth barred, 2 Astrolorps and 2 Easter eggers)