how many chickens are in a flock
Hello. Welcome to solsarin. This post is about “how many chickens are in a flock“.
Chicken
The chicken (Gallus domesticus) is a domesticated bird, with attributes of wild species such as the red and grey junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult male bird, and a younger male may be called a cockerel. A male that has been castrated is a capon. An adult female bird is called a hen and a sexually immature female is called a pullet.
Originally raised for cockfighting or for special ceremonies, chickens were not kept for food until the Hellenistic period (4th–2nd centuries BC). Humans now keep chickens primarily as a source of food (consuming both their meat and eggs) and as pets.
2018
Chickens are one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, with a total population of 23.7 billion as of 2018, up from more than 19 billion in 2011. There are more chickens in the world than any other bird. There are numerous cultural references to chickens – in myth, folklore and religion, and in language and literature.
Genetic studies have pointed to multiple maternal origins in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia, but the clade found in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa originated from the Indian subcontinent. From ancient India, the chicken spread to Lydia in western Asia Minor, and to Greece by the 5th century BC. Fowl have been known in Egypt since the mid-15th century BC, with the “bird that gives birth every day” having come from the land between Syria and Shinar, Babylonia, according to the annals of Thutmose III.
How Many Chickens Do I Need In A Successful Flock?
You are standing in the feed store starting at all the adorable fluffy chicks, wondering how many you should bring home. There’s room for a couple extra in your coop, right? Right??!? Or maybe you already have a flock. But this year they aren’t laying as much as they used to, and you’re thinking about buying a few pullets. Or you are hoping to breed your own stock. And you find yourself wondering, how many chickens do I need, anyway?
How Many Chickens Should You Have?
Deciding how many chickens you need can vary depending based on a lot of factors. And the answer may change for you depending on your goals or management styles. The first consideration is your location. A hard upper limit based on your zoning laws may make the decision for you. In my city you can have three hens without a permit, and more birds with a permit.
The second major consideration is how much space you have for your chickens. At absolute minimum, the birds will need 3 square feet of indoor space (including 1 foot of roosting space), and 10 square feet of outdoor space. But more is better! If you want to free range your birds, you will need at least 200 square feet of pasture per bird or they will eat it right down to the dirt. And if you have more and can rotate that’s even better too.
Diet
Even if you have a ton of space you still may not want a huge flock depending on your goals, available time, or diet. Someone who uses a few eggs a week for baking will want fewer birds than someone who is eating a paleo or low carb diet.
A homesteader who works full time doesn’t necessarily want to spend their weekend mucking out a large chicken coop. For them a better choice is small one that can be quickly refreshed in the evening after work. And the flock size required to breed your own replacement stock is going to be substantially smaller than if you are making a side business selling hatching eggs, chicks, or started pullets.
How many chickens should I start with?
If this is your first time getting chickens I recommend you start with a small flock. Chickens are social animals, and need to have at least one or two other chickens around. It’s easy to put together a cheap and basic chicken coop for three hens. Once you’ve had them for a while you may find that there are certain design features of your coop that you hate. Or you find you’d actually rather have the chickens on the other side of your lot. Or you realize maybe chickens aren’t right for you after all.
How many in a flock?
I just want to know what would be the maximum amount of chickens you would have in a flock? I’m researching stuff for an assignment so this is important to me.
Depends on how much space you have. I personally run upwards of 100 birds in my 4,000 square foot large run; about 30 in my small pen.
I mean, with 10-20 acres, a barn, and a big budget for feed, I’m sure you could run several thousand birds over the area without a problem.
Logistically, most “backyard” flocks will max out at 20-35 chickens and the average flock size I see is probably 6-10.
There isn’t really a maximum number in keeping chickens, as large commercial breeders keep hundreds if not thousands together at a time. However, on most farms that allow foraging, the highest number is around 200 or so.
I personally want a number of around 35 because it is expensive to keep more and they will begin to wear out the yard, but this is for this particular location and depends on the breed, season, individual birds, weather, feed prices, ect.
Free range
There absolutely no way to answer that question without first having a lot of questions answered. How big will the coop be? Will the chickens be allowed to free range, or kept in a run? How big will the run be? How much land available? What is your climate? Any restrictions on flock size in your town/county? What is your goal? Eggs for family only? Eggs to sell? Do you plan on hatching your own chicks in the future? Are you allowed to keep a rooster? Will you be buying day old chicks? Hatching eggs to start your flock? Buying started pullets? What is your budget for start up costs? (Including price of chicks/pullets/eggs, price of brooder, choice of brooder heat: heating pad vs. heat lamp, price of coop (will you build it yourself or pay for pre-fab/hire someone else to build it).
How much can you budget/ month to feed your flock?) I suggest that you sit down, and write out the answers to these questions based on YOUR goals, and your land set up… even if this is only a hypothetical scenario. Then, I suggest that you go to your library and get some books that deal with poultry management. Be sure to include the wonderful book by Harvey Ussery: “The Small Flock Poultry Keeper”. Do a lot of reading. Then… develop your hypothetical flock based on your hypothetical set up, and your hypothetical goals. AND: I hope that your hypothetical flock becomes a reality!
Breeds/Flock Size
Once you’ve confirmed that you are allowed to have backyard chickens, it’s time to do some research into the breeds you want. Different breeds have different personalities and temperaments. For example, Buff Orpingtons, Cochins, and Australorps are all gentle breeds perfect for families with children. Some breeds better suited for extremely cold or hot climates.
If you want to know about “what is a group of larks called“, click on it.
Some breeds lay colored eggs, such as Easter Egg Chickens. Your local feed store should carry a variety of breeds suitable for your area, or you can order day-old chicks online from a hatchery. Hatchery websites are also good sources for breed information.
Chickens extremely flock-oriented, so a good starter flock size is no fewer than three chickens. You should collect about a dozen eggs from three laying hens. A flock of five or six hens is a good choice for slightly larger families.
