How many chickens?

[bp fick]

Clipping is necessary for some breeds, as they are higher flyers than others. Most breeds are content if they've enough to peck at, dig, or scratch. Clip only one wing, it's the imbalance that prevents the high flying. It's just the trimming of the outer flight feathers. None of my present flock are high flyers. Barred Rocks, ISA Browns, Rhode Island Reds.

Most birds, if contented, won't mess with much over 4 ft. But, the flyers won't stop at 6'. Not a chance. If you have a lot of hawks, consider to netting over the top.

None of my present flock are high flyers. Barred Rocks, ISA Browns, Rhode Island Reds.

BYC is a fine enough forum. I have "Educator" status over there, but wading through 90% of the frivolous stuff is very tedious. It can give you a headache. Many of the posters are pre-teen girls, so bear that in mind. It is a very different "culture", shall we say, over there. Very few rural folks.

It just is what it is.

 

[bp fick]

We have 88 egg layers and get in the mid 70 to low 80's for eggs per day.
If you get chickens that are egg layers, not meat or duel purpose chickens, you should expect close to one egg a day for the first year, after that they do fall in production a fair bit. We get our chickens as pullets, so about 18-20 weeks old. After about a year we replace them as their production really slows. Early in the morning we let them out of the coop into a fenced run, late morning after they have finished laying, they are let out to free range on several acres. Every year we have been increasing the number of chickens as we end up getting more customers than we have eggs. If you are into gardening the manure makes great compost.

Yessir. :thumbsup: One of the primary reasons we keep chickens. Couldn't do our market gardening without them. Their manure is the engine that drives it, for sure.

 

[lakngulf]

Mouse, that is a mighty cute helper you got there.

 

[SandburRanch]

your fence needs tobe 6ft tall to slow them down from flying over.an yes clipping 1 wing helps prevent them from flying over.an the wing clipping needs tobe done 2 or 3 times a year.even then some can still fly out of the pen.

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I always seemed to have 1 that would climb the fence while flapping one and one half wings.

 

[anojones]

We have a few hens (Barred Rocks) for personal egg production, I enjoy having them and letting them free range during the day really cuts down on the amount of feed they eat. I think for a few birds, a standard breed such as rhode island reds or barred rocks is the way to go- we had some odd *** linked breed from the feed store, they were not healthy birds compared to our current barred rocks.

 

[20 20]

I have ten hens and get no less then 7-10 eggs a day, they are free range in the warmer months. So lets say average of 7per day X 7 days in a week + 49 eggs. I can easily get this. I get what I want and even give the pups a treat once or twice a week, plus sell a couple dozen here and there to help pay for food espcially during the cold months.

 

[forgeblast]

I made sure i put a top on the run that is next to the coop. The other day there was a hawk sitting in a tree right across from the coop. It also helps keep the squirrles out of the feed.

 

[greasemonkeyok]

Be aware that black snakes like chicken coops. Not a real problem unless your ticker can't handle reaching under a hen and grabbing a snake instead of an egg.

No one has mentioned oyster shell. We put out oyster shell to help with the hardness of the egg shells.

 

[bcjmmac]

Anyone using LED lights to increase production in the winter? They are definitely cheaper to operate but don't throw any heat in the winter. Currently don't have birds, but looking at adding some in a year or so as I gradually reduce work/time away from home. Have lots of land/space and could use the manure & bug eating assistance.

 

[20 20]

No one has mentioned oyster shell. We put out oyster shell to help with the hardness of the egg shells.

I use oyster shells in the winter to help them with digestion, didn't relize it has other benifits, :thumbsup:

I also save the egg shells as much as possible then crush them up and give them to the chicks. They really go nuts for it, great treat, and the shells are a good source of calcium.

 

[radioman]

I have a burning question here that no one seems to answer directly yet? If you have about 6 chickens and buy a 50lb bag of cracked corn, how long would it reasonably last? a week? 2 weeks? month?

 

[bucktaker]

some factors go into your question
Chickens are very wasteful... Hand your feeder so they have to reach for it
Are you free ranging at all?
Are you feeding scraps
how old are the chickens


we are currently raising 31 chicken for egg production.
No free range...too close to neighbors garden and we have a bird dog
Hanging feeder
Scaps as often as possible.....wife thinks its a crime to feed chickens chicken
4-5 months really starting to eat alot

we buy 100-150 lbs feed a month

 

[forgeblast]

I always hang the feeder head level, i have them on a hook hanging down in the coop so they cant jump on it and tip it.
I have a red led bulb in the coop to scare away the squirrels.
I have a feeder for oyster shell, its just a regular galvanized feeder with a piece of pvc shoved into the top and I load it up, they take what they want.
As far as feed, I usually buy crumbles and scratch grain and mix them in a galvanized garbage can. It usually last me a pretty long time, i will say 4-5 months at least.
I feed them once a week in the coop with their scratch grain mix and any inside scraps that the dogs do not get they get. It is so much fun watching them chow down on japanese beetles in the summer time, I hang the lure bag in there and when it fills up i dump it for them and they house them.

 

[Combustix]

Have about seven and they are moulting right now so production is off. If you don't light them in the winter they will lay for longer. We have chickens that are 3-4 years old that may give us 1 egg every three days but since my youngest is in charge of the chickens they are not going anywere. Our fence is 4 feet high and very seldom do we have an escapee. We do free range them after 12 as they will probably have layed thier eggs in the coop by then, though have found nests in various places around the house. They all return to roost at night back in the pen. Just made a 4x8 coop as we just use the eggs for ourselves. Went hunting the other day and had to pick up 2 dozen eggs. The cheapest I saw was $2.19 for a dozen and almost 5 for free range organic chicken eggs. They are fun to watch, especially since they will stick their heads through through the chain link to eat my Chessies dog food while he watches. Pretty brave chickens. We also will feed them scrap from the tabe milk from the goats if they step in the bucket, and various odds and ends.

 

[NorTracNY]

I have a burning question here that no one seems to answer directly yet? If you have about 6 chickens and buy a 50lb bag of cracked corn, how long would it reasonably last? a week? 2 weeks? month?

As mentioned, it can vary a lot. I'd venture to say 50 lbs for 6 chickens (what I currently have and buy) last me about 1 month. Free range and it would be 2 months. Never free range and maybe 3 weeks. I don't keep track since I'm doing this for the quality eggs for my family and not a business. Remember that "free range" and "organic" mean very little for egg quality. pastured is typically used now that the egg industry has "free range" ruined.

 

[Amelia Farms]

Mousefield,
Nice looking setup you have there. Is that a lab in the picture. How did you train it to leave the chickens alone?