Maximum # of chickens for a family of 6

[ridgefire]

Lets see there is just the 3 of us and we have 16 hens and 1 roo. The clean up isn't all that bad, I shovel out the poo from under their roosts once a week and stir the shavings up. I have very little smell if any. For the most part chickens are very little maintenance. As long as they have food and water, and lots of room to play.

 

[fullhouse]

There's a max? Right now we have 5 laying hens, 15 ish pullets, and 5 roos. The 3 roos are pets, in fact Spot is sleeping in the house right now. The other 2 are a pain in my rear and just getting big enough to eat. We have 7 people and never have too many eggs. I like to give them to the neighbors and my family, so we added more. My daughter wants to show next year, so we added a few more. I hope to stay under 24 long term

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

I have 2 adult hens, 10 almost grown hens, and 3 wee ones all in the coop...I have not had to clean it yet. There is NO smell at all! They free range for about 4 hours every day and the rest of the time they are in their coop/run. I used pine shavings and just stir it up once week and every 3 weeks I add a little more pine shavings. I plan on cleaning it out fully twice a year. I've had the hens in there for over 2 months now. I think out of all the animals I have kept, chickens have FAR been the easiest and funnest to raise!

Chicken TV is great!

 

[Akane]

The maximum you can care for really depends on you. It's not something anyone else can decide. That's why everyone is giving you the minimum you should have. I've talked to people who seemed really busy with their lives and yet had several hundred poultry. Others who have time on their hands complain about 5 hens. Start with the minimum and add from there if you find you can care for them. It's especially hard to estimate if you haven't had many animals before.

 

[VetsJetsnGuns]

come up with the number of eggs you eat a week, pick the breed you want (laying rates vary a lot) and just do the math.

 

[S0rcy]

I have four buff orps and one red sex link. Care is about 10 minutes a day and however long you want to spend spoiling, petting, spoiling some more, giving treats, talking until your significant other comes out and asks if you are going to give THEM any attention tonite, and final pats and opening/closing the coop. Really not much to clear up every day, I haven't had to change the shavings yet in the 4 months I've had them in the coop/chicken condominium.

 

[the4heathernsmom]

Well we just strted bout 6 months ago have 14 grown hens but with this heat on average we get about 8 eggs per day some lay everyother day then we have 6 "teenage" hens and 4 chicks. We are a family of six with just around 2 acres it works fine for us and any extras we get we just share !!!!

 

[Mahonri]

We have 6 kids at home. We use almost 2 dozen a week. We have 18 hens and one roo. They are 14 weeks old so we've still got a month or so before we start getting eggs. I've already promised one of the neighbors the occasional dozen. I spend 5 minutes a day getting them water and treats. On weekends the boys sweep and mop the coop. It takes them about 20 minutes for our 12 X 8 coop.
I also spend a little time throwing DE in their run and then watering it down from time to time.

I think our maximum would be about 30. We would probably be better off with about 10.

 

[The Chicken Lady]

Quote:
Then you've come to the right place! No one here will discourage you from getting as many chickens as possible!

Welcome, by the way!

 

[KellyGwen]

We are a family of 3 adults and we decided to get chickens this spring... The minimum order from the hatchery was 25 and I thought that was WAY too many... When they arrived 1/2 of them were DOA so they sent a COMPLETE replacement order WITH EXTRAS and they ALL LIVED. Plus, I NEEDED some silkies... and those cochins were really cute... Oh, a TURKEN! Have to have one of those... You see how it is... Now I have almost 50 chickens. *SIGH* for 3 PEOPLE! They're like potato chips! Only one of them (my sultan hen - yeah, NEEDED one of those too) is laying now... We are SO setting up an egg stand when they all start!!!

They are just too much fun. I take care of the chickens myself (the other 2 here just enjoy playing with them)... and even with as many as I have it's really easy! They are very simple "pets" to own if you have the right set-up.