To answer the question of how many chickens you will need to feed a family of four we have to consider how many eggs per week a person will eat. Let’s assume that these chickens are only for eggs and not for meat.
The average number of eggs a chicken will produce per year is around 270, which will usually slow down in the winter months. So, if you have a family of four then 4-6 chickens will be plenty providing 3-5 per week.
This works out so long as you are not all eating an egg every single day. Do remember as well that you will not always get eggs every week, so 3-5 can work out very well.
However, if you are a family who really loves their eggs, then you may want to have a couple more chickens to ensure that you have enough each week.
On average, remember that 4 hens will give you around 3 eggs per day, and 5 hens will give you 3-4 eggs per day, 6 hens would give you 4 or 5 eggs per day and so on.
How many chickens can you put in a 4x8 coup?
You may only have room for a 4ft by 8ft coop in your garden, with room for your chickens to wander around. So if this is the only size you can get, how many chickens can you have in this coup?
A standard coup should be around 4 square foot per chicken in the coop, and 10 in the run. So if your coop is 4ft by 8ft then you can have 8 chickens without issue. You should not have more than 8 chickens in a coup of this size.
If you are having chickens for eggs alone, then you can easily feed eggs to a family of four, with the amount of chickens you can keep in a coup sizes 4ft to 8ft. We would not advise keeping any more than 10 chickens in a coup of this size.
While you could keep more in there it is best to allow for room so that your chickens have a comfortable home. It also depends on the size of your chickens as well. If your chickens are a bit pudgy you want to ensure they are comfortable in their coup.
You do not want your coup to be too cramped. So we advise 8 chickens per coup sized 4x8, and no more than 10.
How many eggs will 4 chickens lay?
To figure out how many eggs you should expect if you have 4 hens, then it may take a bit of math to work it out. On average 4 hens will lay 3 eggs per day, with an exception in the winter months, when their egg production will slow down.
4 hens will usually lie around 200 eggs per year each, which adds up to 800 eggs per year, averaging at around 15 or more eggs per week.
This means that if you are a small family who really enjoys eggs then you will probably be satisfied with the egg production from 4 chickens. However, not every egg is a good egg, so it is wise to take that into account.
If you really like eggs and want to have a near constant and steady flow for a small family, then 6 chickens would be more than enough.
As six hens will lie around 1,200 eggs per year combined. This equals 23 or more eggs per week, which is a very high amount, but would be nearly enough for a family of four to have an egg nearly every day.
Overall though, if you have 4 chickens you should expect around 3 eggs per day, or 200 per year.
Can you have just two chickens?
Two chickens should be the bare minimum if you plan on keeping chickens. Chickens enjoy living in groups. They are a pack animal and are very sociable. You should never keep less than a pair of chickens, and sometimes even a pair is not enough as they can still get lonely.
Three chickens is a good amount to keep your chickens happy socially, and they are also a suitable amount to keep a family of four with plenty of eggs to keep the fridge fully stocked and the omelettes ongoing.
You should not have a lone chicken, while you can have a singular chicken it is not recommended. It is not optimal or ideal to just have the one chicken, they generally do much better in groups. Chickens like to flock together for warmth, company, and comfort, much like we do.
They enjoy being sociable and like to have companions when they are stressed or frightened. If you only have one chicken they may not be happy and this may affect their egg production.
For the health, vitality, and for optimal egg production, it is best to keep chickens in groups, even if it is just small groups. Two should be the absolute bare minimum of chickens, whereas three, four, five and more is even better for both you, and for the chickens.
How many chickens do I need for a dozen eggs a week?
If you are getting chickens for eggs, then you need to remember that not all chicken breeds are created equally. The average chicken will often lie around four or five eggs per week.
However, some chickens are bred to lay more than this, while some other chickens may not lay any more than two or three eggs in a week.
You should be mindful of how many eggs you seek to get from your chickens, and take advice on the amount of eggs a particular chicken is likely to lay before you choose your chicken based on egg production.
The rule of thumb however, is that you will get a dozen eggs a week per three chickens. But the breeds of a chicken will affect this rule, so you need to pay attention to your chicken breeds. Similarly, climate can affect things more than you may guess.
Different chickens are accustomed to different climates, so you want to get a chicken that is suited to your climate so that the climate does not create a decrease in their egg production.
If you want a dozen eggs a week, or just over, in the right climate 3 chickens should be able to do this for you. If you wanted a dozen eggs a day, however, then you would want around 13 to 15 chickens.
How many chickens does a family of 6 need?
Raising chickens at home for eggs can be very beneficial, it does take some planning though as you need to ensure that you have enough chickens for the amount of eggs that you want.
One of the easiest ways to figure out how many chickens you need is to follow guidelines of how many chickens you should have for how many eggs you seek to receive over a week period.
Once they start laying you will get an idea of whether or not you have too many or too few and adjust accordingly.
How many eggs you need will depend not only on how many people are in your household but your preferences. One household of 6 people may want to have eggs every day, whereas another 6-person household may only want to have eggs twice a week.
To figure out how many eggs you need, you can vary the amount of eggs by 0.5 eggs per chicken each day as an average. So if you needed 24 eggs per week then you would want around 3.4 eggs per day.
This calculates at around 6.8, or more reasonably 7 chickens. So if you wanted 24 eggs per week then 7 chickens would be enough for you.
Do remember however, that different breeds will have different laying habits.
How many chickens does a family of 2 need?
If you are looking to buy some hens for egg laying consider how many eggs you will need. You may buy your chickens from chicks, when you do this you may find it difficult to sex them until they mature.
If you get a dozen chicks then you may end up with a selection of hens and roosters. For a household of two, you may expect to get around 6-8 eggs per day if you got 10 hens from the chicks you purchased.
This may seem like too many for some, but also remember that in winter months this large amount of eggs will decrease to only 2 or 3 per day.
If you do get too many eggs then you can always give eggs away which can be a very useful way to either thank friends, and family, or even as an income.
Generally though, for only two people you will not likely need this many hens, realistically, 3 hens should be more than enough, and even two may be enough, although 3 is a good number as hens are sociable animals and with the winter decrease in eggs it will ensure that you are still getting a decent number of eggs per week.
Also, keep in mind that you should also be mindful about the size of your coop. You should make sure that your coop is big enough for the amount of chickens you have.
How many chickens should a beginner start with?
If you are a beginner, never having raised chickens for eggs before, then a good number of chickens to start with is 3.
This is a comfortable number of chickens, chickens like to be in groups and so keeping them in groups is a good way to ensure they are content enough to produce eggs well.
Three chickens is also a good amount of chickens to not be overwhelmed with too. Once you get more comfortable with your chickens, you can then get more should you wish to.
You should also take breeds into account when you get chickens too. Different breeds of chickens will have different personalities and temperaments, some will be better to be around children and families, whereas others may be better suited to hot or cold climates.
You should also decide if you will get already matured chickens as you start, or if you want to get chicks.
Chicks will require extra care before they mature, they will need to be kept under a heat lamp in the house until they start to grow feathers, this means it is also important to time their arrival well.
You also need a brooder box for chicks, a waterer and a feeder until they are eight weeks old. For some beginners this is a good way to get used to and accustomed to your chickens, for others this may be too much, and you may be better off getting matured chickens.
