one acre, how many chickens?

[gryeyes]

I am a renter in a second house on an acre lot. My land-lady lives in the front house.

The county ordinance (although we live in the city limits, animal control is contracted to the county and its odinances) allows 25 chickens per acre. Actually, it refers to "Animal Density Points" per acre, and different animals have different point allotments. Chickens are worth a point apiece. Sheep are 4 points apiece, and my landlady keeps 3 sheep. So, that's 12 points from the 25 we are legally allotted. I would be able to keep 13 chickens. And, by the way, "sexually immature offspring" do not count as ANY points.

So, 12 of my 25 fowl are over the limit ONCE THEY REACH SEXUAL MATURITY. *innocent whistling*

Interestingly enough, my neighbors are incensed that I am restricted to ANY particular number of chickens (as long as I don't go "hog wild," the male head of that household told me).

Just thought I'd pop in with some numbers "carefully considered" by a county government as appropriate for an acre.

 

[jessschaub]

I think you could easily have 2-3 dozen birds on one acre. I currently have 22 birds and they only roam around close to the house everyday which is about one acre. They never try to go out on the rest of my 3.5 acres. I fond that if you keep the grass a little longer (3.5-4") they don't eat a lot when they come back into the coop at night. Free ranging is GREAT pest control, free lawn fertilizer, and great enterainment.

 

[savingdogs]

You are asking THIS group of poultry-enablers how many chickens to have? lol

We have five acres but because it is hilly are really only using less than an acre. We have 16 chickens and 13 ducks, as well as three goats. Each type has their own pen and then we have access to free range that we can open or close. We only let the animals free range when we are home and keeping an eye out. We have lost some chickens but it has been at a pretty slow rate (one in nine months). We have lost others but from them flying out, not free ranging. We have one breed that can fly pretty well and when they discovered free-ranging would not be contained. Now we clip their wings, but we had to lose one before we learned chickens will fly right into the mouth of a dog!

When the poultry are not free ranging, we let our large dogs out into the same area. Since we have six, this has seemed to deter predators pretty well!

 

[Oven Ready]

We have four acres and 70 ish free range bantams - we don't feed them, they find all their food by themselves - they get scraps and some rice but no actual chicken food.
Of the four acres they regularly use about an acre, the other three just don't seem to attract them.
We also have wild junglefowl (not ours - they are wild) and about twenty of them visit us regulalry - they tend to stick to areas where ours don't go.

Predators - yes, if you free range you'll get some sort of predators but with enough chickens you'll be able to keep a ready supply of new victims. Four could easily disappear to a predator before you know it - forty takes a special kind of predator and gives you enough time to go get the shotgun and even up the odds a little.

If you buy grown up chickens (not chicks) make sure to keep them in the coop for a good ffew days to get them oriented, or they'll just wander off (en masse probably)

Check the Predators section for information, sad stories and gruesome pictures (and some cheery stories I'm sure but I don't know where they are)

eta: I should point out that we are in a hot country with all year 'summer', so we don't need to worry about a lack of bugs in the winter.

 

[Amyh]

Thanks everyone!! I would like to do about 10 or so, so now I know that I've got plenty of room for that many! It's also fenced with dogs and cats running around, so I'm not too worried about predators. We get the occasional opossum, but the hens will be locked up tightly at night.

Thanks again!