More Chickens than you started with? (POLL)

[Richard]

Hi,

Just a little exercise for writing an article around how many people add to their original flock.

Be great to read any stories ie. Started with 3, then up to 7, now 15 plus extending Runs. to house them etc.

Many thanks,

Richard

[Mo]

I started with 3. Numbers have fluctated between 3 and 6 as I add 2 or 3 when egg production is down (or if the fox comes to call).

[Richard]

I should say I started with 3 and within 3 years went up to over 30.
Went from an Ark to a 24 square Run and 2 Sheds

In the last 5 years or so I've kept it down to between 5 and 8 Chickens.
At present I'm down to 3 as I'm unsure of my future abode.

Richard

[Bob B]

Started with 6 ex Bats went down to 1 after 2 years but have added 3 light Sussex so know 4, Calculate that the original remaining ex Bat is about 5 years old, stopped laying about 8 months ago. But not about egg production.

[KathJ]

Just increased our flock today. We've had 4 for 2 years but lost two recently and have just got another 3. We'd love more and have plans to extend the run and get a bigger coop so watch this space...

[jemberelli]

We started with 4, eventually ending up with 8. Unfortunately we lost them in a fox attack but when we moved house we bought another 6 to replace them.

[Chicken drumstick]

Went from 4 to nine

[bmpsands]

Started with 4 ex garden lbj girls. Acquired 2 light Sussex almost immediately after our house move. Added 2 black rocks from a chap who had decided to concentrate on bantam. Rescued 5 ex barn girls the following year. This year rescued 5 more exbatts. We've lost a few and yesterday had 11. This morning we got 8 abandoned bantam. 2 might be cockerels. The original coop and run would fit comfortably in our quarantine area. We've extended a few times and the hens lived in our utility room for a while after a gale wiped out our setup.

[tosca100]

Lots of fluctuation here. Started with three in the back garden of our semi in Wales, given five as a housewarming present when we moved here, bought a trio of Shumens who had babies. Have lost three of the five, had chicks and homed most, kept some, lost a few. Six ex-batts. At the moment we have only sixteen chickens, that will swell temporarily tomorrow when a friend's eight come to stay for a couple of months while she goes back to the UK.

Houses, we started with a small, vermin proof shed and the nursery, then converted another shed so keeping babies, layers and shumens separate. All mixed and in the nursesry for the winter. Friend's going in the large shumen run. One empty for emergencies. The geese live in the garage...temporarily!

[manda]

Started with 8 ...and now well they're all over the place at the moment around 60 ...not exactly sure about the numbers

[Mo]

Ah yes, it's your 'nests in the bushes' season. Just as we're getting towards the 'shut them in before tea' season.

[ulrikeelmleigh]

Started with 4. When down to 2, added 4 more. One of those went broody and hatched 6 chicks, so briefly I had 6 hens and 6 chicks in the garden. Found new homes for all chicks and earlier this year was down to 2. Since then, 1 rescue hen was aquired and 3 new chicks hatched, so now it's 6 altogether - until this evening, when one of the 2 cockerels is leaving for his new home.

[ChickenCarol]

Started with three ended up extending the run to more than double size and added two extra small coups to the original one and now have eight girls. There does seem to be a pattern emerging here with chicken keeping.

Started with three as it's the recommended minimum but very happy with my eight little girls. They are addictive.

[Mo]

Well I think it's a daft question. How many people on this forum are happy to cull unproductive hens? And how many will go back to shop eggs after eating an egg that you've collected still warm?
So you are bound to increase a bit - the secret is not to do it too soon and to leave room for some young hens when you have pensioners.

[tomato]

i started with 3, when 1 died i got 2 more and its just increased from there. I now have 16, 7 of which are ex batts.