Is 300 chickens enough?

[chickengeorgeto]

Yup, rosemarythyme brings up an excellent point. Aging hens are going to happen quickly especially if you are planning on using production birds. They age quicker due to the production of so many eggs per year than the heritage birds and then you are going to have to have a plan for dealing with them.

There are no difference between the economic reality of "Heritage" hens and commercial hens. I say this because both types of hens are on the downward slope from the minute they hatch. The only difference is that you will not lose as much money as fast with production hens as you stand to lose with "Heritage hens" mostly because you'll need to feed the inefficient Heritage hens for a much longer period of time before they get to the break even point.

There is a lot of things that goes into producing table eggs than meets the eye. You will need replacement birds, new or improved housing, etc,etc, etc. This is where depreciation comes into play.

Also to raise 300 replacement pullets you'll need a minimum of 600 unsexed baby chicks and even the best of us will lose maybe 10% of our replacement birds for one reason or another. Therefore make that 660 unsexed baby chicks per year. @ $5 per chick that equals $3300 Green Backs every 12 months or a dead expense of $280 per month. Of course you can recapture some of this outlay if you slaughter your Spring Chickens but can you bring yourself to do so even in the face of your family going hungry. Or sleeping on the street.

300 producing hens quartered on 1/4 of an acre with two paddocks equals about 11&1/2 square feet per productive hen on 1/8th of an acre. This will hardly produce any useful forage for your hens. Now once the gearatic hens and your young stuff is somehow figured into the equation not to mention those 100s & 100s of boy hens I don't see how your chickens can keep from stepping on each other because they will be jammed packed together like sardines, not chickens..

I don't intend to throw cold water on your dreams because in a free country dreams are what propels the economy What I am saying is don't quit your day job.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

At the risk of asking this question and offending anyone, I'll apologize first
I've been keeping the non-producing, older hens because I'm so attached. I have a small flock of 9 and currently have 6 chicks that are almost 10 weeks old. I'm very attached to my old girls, but IF I decide to thin out the non producing, is there a gentler way to take care of it? I have three who I could never willingly get rid of because they are so tame and loveable. The others are not as friendly and were given to me as adults. I've had my original 6 for 4 years...I think 3 of them are pretty done laying...those are my tame girls Thoughts?

If you actually WANT to get rid of the chickens, the best ways to put them down are going to be CD (Cervical Dislocation), gun or full decapitation.
These are commonly considered aesthetically unappealing but VERY humane. They are suggested by both vets and the AMVA as the best at-home methods for euthanizing birds. Full decapitation is considered best, because the instant blood loss to the brain shears about 10-15 seconds off of brain-death time, but both are extremely fast with full death occurring in less than half a minute.

If birds are very small you can use CO2, but unless they are very small bantams they are probably too big for this to be done safely without special equipment.

But if you wanna keep your chickens, just keep em. They're not too expensive and it's fair to keep them as pets as long as they don't endanger other chicken keepers (ie, have communicable diseases).

 

[bobbi-j]

At the risk of asking this question and offending anyone, I'll apologize first
I've been keeping the non-producing, older hens because I'm so attached. I have a small flock of 9 and currently have 6 chicks that are almost 10 weeks old. I'm very attached to my old girls, but IF I decide to thin out the non producing, is there a gentler way to take care of it? I have three who I could never willingly get rid of because they are so tame and loveable. The others are not as friendly and were given to me as adults. I've had my original 6 for 4 years...I think 3 of them are pretty done laying...those are my tame girls Thoughts?

There is nothing offensive in your question. We all manage our flicks differently. My chickens - while well cared for - are not pets. They are not a business venture, but I do keep them for eggs and meat. That means I have to consider the financial aspect of keeping nonproductive birds. I only have so much space, so if I keep housing and feeding nonproductive birds, I will eventually run out of room and end up buying chicken and eggs to eat. Not gonna happen. As far as a “gentler” way of putting them out of their misery, I agree that CD or decapitation is the quickest, most humane way. If you don’t feel you can do that, I’d suggest a trip to the vet.

 

[Mrs. K]

Personally, I find the cone and razor the most easy to manage. The bird just gets tired and weak. A very sharp cut does not hardly hurt at all, in my experience.

I am not an advocate of keeping the non productive birds, says the lady with three in her coop right now, it is hard to do. But I love the cycle of life, getting new and to do that losing the old must be done.

Mrs K

 

[Naser]

If I was going to do this I will buy golden comet hens and/or white leghorn, depends on what color eggs are easier to sell. Austrolaps will get broody, even purebred RIR do. an advantage of the white leghorns you can easily breed them while they are in production, and they consume less feed, the disadvantage is they are no good for meat and they are not autosex.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

If I was going to do this I will buy golden comet hens and/or white leghorn, depends on what color eggs are easier to sell. Austrolaps will get broody, even purebred RIR do. an advantage of the white leghorns you can easily breed them while they are in production, and they consume less feed, the disadvantage is they are no good for meat and they are not autosex.

Your post shows a good understanding of the basic nature of table egg production.