Share your chicken math story!

[Emmaloveschickens9156]

I started with 7 chickens as a gift from my uncle. He didn’t want the roo so he gave us the whole flock. We now have 17 chickens and I don’t feel like typing all their stories but y’all I’m starting to like (chicken) math share your stories!

 

[Silkiebegins]

I started with 5 then got 2 more, then another 2 more and then another 2. Somehow only ended up with 6. All in 2 months.

 

[Emmaloveschickens9156]

Okay I have added on 10 chickens to our flock. Here’s the story (s).
Our first add Ins- Pip zip, butters and Francisco.
Our peahen went broody. She hatched pip and zip, but she is sadly a homicidal broody. We took the chicks and raised them ourselves.
Two weeks later-

Well what do you know the feed store has Easter eggers! Pullets too! So you grab Two. Long story short, one (Francisco) was NOT a pullet and we reformed him. We kept butters.


We need more layers, so we get two layers. Henny and penny. One is a white rock one is a wyandotte.

Mom said if I rehomed my rabbit. I could get 4-5 more chicks. So I get 4 at TSC. One gets attacked by a predator. So -1. The other four are doing happily,
But I think 1-2 of them are Roos. Just my luck. Anyways.

Zip goes broody- we give her four eggs. Two died no idea why, (well actually the eggs cracked) anyways. two hatched, they doin amazin. Long story short- get more chickens!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I have, um... about 20 older layers. So I order 12 chicks this spring, six each Sapphire Gems and Prairie Bluebell Eggers. I plan to cull the old girls. I do cull some for the freezer and also have a few losses due to age and illness. One of the Egger chicks dies so I have 11 pullets. Somehow I end up with 22 total layers and the rooster. I drive 400 miles to Alabama (from MO) to get a dozen beautiful lavender EE, figuring some will be cockerels (freezer) and maybe I will sell some. The breeder encourages me to take 4 extra in case of losses on the way. Very hardy chicks, all survive. A dog gets in and kills one of my beautiful Gems. I am down to 21 layers. And 16 three-week old chicks. And a rooster. Total: 36 birds. My hen house holds 25 birds, max.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

PS. I never was good at math!

 

[SourRoses]

I really can't remember it all. We went up, down, all around.

We just got down to 14 as I made my final, final breeder selections (and some are older pet status hens we can't part with). It's the first time we've had this few in years.
But, the 2 broodies are sitting on eggs and the incubator is full...

 

[21hens-incharge]

Over the many years things have shifted a lot.

My last years math tripled my flock.
My layers were getting up in years by a lot. After buying eggs during winter I decided it was time to refresh my flock.
I bought 6 " hatchery choice rare breed". A few days later little Dumpling (named that due to never doing well) passed away. I chose a dark brahma as a replacement. Then I realized hatchery choice is normally straight run! Well I wanted pullets darn it. Of course that meant buying 6 more sexed chicks.
As it turned out one of the sexed chicks was a cockerel and all the first group were pullets.
Fall came around and I ran across blue copper marans discounted to $2 each. Of course I didn't NEED them but I came home with them.
They had the usual horrid pasty butts which was easily fixed.
My cockerel was about 7 months old by then. He didn't exactly approve of me grabbing chicks and them peeping in panic lol. No harm done since he is a good boy and won't attack but he certainly charged into the coop at full speed ready for action.

None of my old ladies have passed this year so I now have 29 chickens. I really only NEED 6.

That rare breed group ended up being 2 buff brahmas and 3 olive eggers. I am not disappointed with that at all. Dumpling was likely a buff Orpington.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

None of my old ladies have passed this year so I now have 29 chickens. I really only NEED 6

Ain't that the way it goes? When you have too many, they live forever. When they are precious to you ... they drop like flies.

 

[Silkiebegins]

That

Ain't that the way it goes? When you have too many, they live forever. When they are precious to you ... they drop like flies.

The second part is so true.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Back before I had chickens I thought I'd maybe get 4 to 6 and that would surely be plenty to satisfy the chicken need, so naturally I now have 19 chickens with an order for chicks scheduled for the end of the month LOL.