How many chickens for a family of 4?

[hippipotami]

As per title really. We are a family of 4, and I use approx 6 eggs a week in home baking. Sometimes at the weekend (but not every weekend, perhaps once a month) I buy another 6 for a cooked breakfast.

So how many chickens should we get?

(Dh has started planning the coop and run, hence the question)

Well, we have 4 hybrids, and we get 3-4 eggs a day. If you got pure breeds then you could get a couple more and not be over-run with eggs. The pure breeds lay for longer, but go off lay in the winter more.

3 is a good number, as they like company, and if something happens to one then there won't be one left on their own. If you had 3 hybrids, I reckon you'd be getting about 24 eggs a week.

Wow, 24 eggs a week!! My friends and neighbours will be delighted

So do you reckon 3 is a good number? Odd rather than even?

Doesn't really make any difference. You need at least 2, for company, and 3 is nicer just in case...

If I were you, I would get a white egg layer, a brown prolific one and a dark one - maybe a White Star, a Goldline and a Speckeldy.

Ah, will research those chickens now

The children are willingly giving up their wooden climbing frame, so we are planning to re-use the wood to make the bulk of teh coop and run.

Am getting ridiculously (sp) excited!!

Have a look at this place - this is where we got 2 of ours from. They're really lovely there, and very helpful, and the chickens are lovely. But they have nice pics of the various breeds.

Welcome to the chicken board btw!

Thanks

I signed your list when you were campaigning for a chicken board, so now I feel I ought to use it!! No seriously, it is something we have thought about for a while.
But as we are on a tight-ish budget, dh has said I can go ahead and price everything up (well, start up costs anyway, and then work out feed/medicine/upkeep costs) so we can work out when/if it is feasible....

All excited for you hippipotami!!

i would get 2 or 3 hybrids for the eggs - we are a family of 5 and found that 2 was ok, 3 maybe too many but we got them everyday of the year. and add in a couple of bantams for fun as they dont lay much. agree with breeds suggested for hybrids. but pekins are great pets. we give some eggs away but otherwise eat them all! Francine Raymond suggests (in Yesterday's telegraph i saw) getting 2 new pol a year and they replace the old ones that die naturally

I had six and made a little moeny form the extra eggs

more chickens the better, you will never run out of people who want lovely fresh eggs

trinityrhino - dd has started asking random people who come to the door 'Would you like some eggs?'/

You need to be a little careful in mixing hybrids and bantams - you can end up with the bantams being bullied.

TS - never had this problem - we maybe have just had gentle hybrids!

It is snowing here, too cold to send dh out to measure the space for the chicken coop and run, no??

and here - we have had a snowball fight and made a giant snow witch woman

alas our snow has turned into sleet, and it is now wet and miserable outside. We have not managed to make a single snowman this year....

It's just the size difference - if you get some with bullying tendencies then they can make it hard for the bantams I think.

hippo - we have 4 brown hens, my brother got them for us as a house warming present, up until now we have had 4 eggs a day, we find them quite easy to use up, you are much more likely to eat eggs when you have them this fresh, plus family and neighbours love getting fresh eggs.

it is so exciting getting hens and they are lovely. good luck!

if I was choosing my own hens I would look for a few different breeds.

thanks aefondkiss...

I will have a look at the different breeds.

Is there a best time of year to get chickens?

for hybrids you should be able to get them all year round, they start laying at about 20 weeks and are generally sold as Point Of Lay (POL) from about 15 weeks. They will lay all year but will usually wait for their first spring before they start. (the light controls their hormones which is why they often lay a few eggs when it has been snowing!. ).

Bantams are not so heavy layers and tend to lay roughly April - October so not in the winter. You will therefore get bantam POL from around May onwards depending on whether you get them from someone who sells them for a living or if they sell their spare chicks/pol.