Planning your flock: breeds, numbers, purpose

In short

• Roughly 1 hen per adult in the household gives about 220 eggs a year per person; add 1–2 hens as a reserve.
• A flock has at least 4 hens. A hen does not live well on her own.
• Hybrids lay more, heritage breeds last longer and cope better with free range, winter and disease.
• A cockerel is not needed for eggs, only for fertile eggs and chicks.
• Hen house, fence and water must be ready before you bring home the first hen.
• Register your flock with the animal health authority where the law requires it, even a few backyard hens (in Great Britain, Northern Ireland and Ireland it does).

What's inside

Chapters

1. What you want from the flock
2. Heritage breeds and hybrids
3. How many hens
4. A cockerel: yes or no
5. Buying: who from and what kind of birds
6. What must be ready before the first hen
7. Space, position and neighbours
8. Hens in the homestead cycle
9. Paperwork and duties
10. Cost and value
11. The first-year plan
12. Common mistakes
13. Printable checklist

Worksheets

• Flock calculator
• Start-up cost, feed and water
• Comparing breeds and sellers
• Flock register
• The flock's first-year plan