Looking for experiences from SMALL flock owners - 4 or less hens?

[guesswhatchickenbutt]

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Well thanks to YOU people, I'm already considering getting 4 chicks instead of three

We know we want a flock of three, but now I'm a bit freaked out about something happening to one or two of them and then I've got the drama of reintroducing chicks to 1 or 2 established hens. I've heard that can be quite a long process and quite a scene. So.... I have three hens reserved in my name at the feed store and now I'm wondering if we'll slip another one into the mix.

Plus last night in my late-night-secret-chicken-website-surfing I found a Cochin Breeder here in town!!! They look like gorgeous fluffy little things, so at least I know I have a local connection if we want chicks in a hurry. I wanted to avoid Cochins because they aren't good layers, but the cuteness factor is hard to bypass and I'm sure they aren't horrible layers. Wow - I can talk myself into anything.

I've got to tell you, I'm loving this thread!! Finding small-flock partners in chicken ownership is great! LOL. I feel a lot more "at home" now than when I talk to people with 200 chickens - keep in mind, I am jealous of the mega-chicken people, but we can't swing that many birds since ours will be covert chickens.

 

[vermontgal]

Kate, having just gone through the unexpected flock reduction myself (from 4 to 3), it does leave me in a quandary. Three chickens are really enough for me - in terms of egg production - but of course I WANT more.

No, I can't really introduce a single chick to my 3 gals. I do have space for 5, so I could raise 2 chicks and introduce them at an appropriate age. But, I am trying to hold off so that I will have a more age-staggered flock. It is hard, because I really miss the green eggs from my EE who died, plus she was a sweet-tempered bird.

If you think 3 chickens is the number for you, then I would suggest to go ahead and get 3 chickens. If one of them dies, then you would have an opportunity to introduce 2 new ones in the future. I know that I have learned about breeds since I got my first 4 chicks, and I will be trying different ones in the next batch. You may find your own preferences changing, too.

Are your 3 chicks on order different breeds? I would suggest that. You probably need to find heat-tolerant breeds especially in Central Florida. For me, I have learned new things about cold hardiness.

Keep in mind that if you start off with 4 chicks, and all of them do make it, you will have a looooong time until you are able to get chicks, switch breeds, or increase your egg production with younger layers. Unless you are able to sell or give away some of your originals. Me - I find them too hard to part with even if they aren't my favorites.

Edited to add - When I do add chicks, I will probably raise a group of 3 together and then (gulp) have to get rid of one if all survive. Another thing to point out is that there is a stage when they are "teenagers" just before they start to lay when they are very unfriendly. If I were going to try to get rid of a chicken, I would do it then, during the unfriendly period. Although in some ways it would make more sense to wait until after they start laying to see who lays big/small eggs... er, well, maybe there really never is a good time to get rid of a chicken.

 

[peony07]

I just read this whole thread and the thing I notice most is this "I had a small flock, then I got more...!"

Talk about a bunch of enabelers! (how do you spell that?)
We started with 4, but now have 6 and it hasn't been 2 weeks! We're not suppose to have chickens either, but DH just cut down a 40' Holly tree to make room for a coop, so I guess the hush hush part is out the window. (We hated that Holly anyway, too prickly!)

Good luck with your small flock and I hope you manage to keep the more chick addiction bay!

 

[Torch404]

I'm a month in to having three beautiful birds. I think they are 5-6 month old so they should start laying soon!!!

I have the room for four or five and I would like to get an EE some time, but I think five would just be too much. I am still just winging it and I really need to predator proof my set up much better, but everyone seems very happy! We'll all be happier once it stops raining!

 

[CATRAY44]

Just use lots of stall dry, you will not find it much more work, at all. I started with 3 and now have 6 standards and 6 bantams (4 are Seramas, so i justify that as really only 3 bantams

. ) Oh my.

 

[guesswhatchickenbutt]

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Help a newbie out - "stall dry"????? - is that fancy chicken talk for hay? or is it something specific?


And have any of you small flock owners put those stick-down linoleum tiles on the floors of your coops? I've heard it makes clean-up a snap....

10 more days 'till my chicks come in.... sigh.....

 

[vermontgal]

I used cheapo- self stick vinyl tiles in my coop. I wish I had used a solid sheet of vinyl (and may do a replacement or overlay this summer). Some of the tiles have come up at the corners. I used additional construction adhesive on the tiles because the self-stick glue was not very good. Should have used MORE adhesive or solid sheet of vinyl, the latter being clearly preferable. Aside from the detail of the corners coming up, using vinyl flooring has been a good move for the coop. It is an especially good idea on the dropping board under your roost. The majority of the poops come out in the night, and so cleaning off the dropping board is a good factor to keep the rest of the coop clean.

Stall Dry is a product containing, I think, an absorbing clay + diatomaceous earth. You can buy it in the feedstores in the horse section. From what the horse people on here say - anything that is OK (safe) for putting in the horse environment should be fine for chickens, as horses are more sensitive than chickens. There is a related product called Dri Stall - I think either is OK. People seem to use them interchangeably, depending on what is in stock where you are!

 

[CATRAY44]

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That is it, exactly. It works really well to keep away flies and odor!

 

[EweSheep]

I''ve used Stall Dry for the last five years and no problems with it. Great stuff!

 

[ORChick]

Great thread! I could have used all this advice a year ago when I got my chicks

. I have 5 hens and a rooster, and the coop I built will hold a maximum of 8, so I figure if anything happens to any of the girls, or when they aren't laying as much, I can get 2 more to add to the flock. (BYC enablers can't get to me, because I simply do not have the room to expand

) The 5 girls give us enough eggs for our 2 person family, with some extras in the summer for friends. I would suggest that if you can only have a few, and if egg production is especially important to you, that you research the breeds that you want to get. I have 2 New Hampshires, 2 EEs, and 1 Silver Spangled Hamburg. The NHs are my best layers - if I were expanding, and wanted egg producers, I would get more of them, or another good layer. The EEs are very sweet, and 1 (only 1

) lays a pretty green egg, but they both aren't as prolific as the NHs. The SSH is very decorative, and I value her for that, but is my worst layer. Her eggs are small, and she doesn't lay often - in fact she is still on her "winter break", and hasn't layed any at all since before Christmas! I think that if I only wanted eggs for the family, with few or none to give away, 3 good layers would be quite adequate. Good luck with the project; I can't tell you how enjoyable I find it to have chickens in the yard!