This post covers the number of chickens you’ll need for your family homestead.
Spring is always an exciting time for new life and new opportunities on a homestead, and if you’re like me, it’s a time to start thinking about new animals to add that can add value to your property. Chickens are a great animal to add because of their egg-laying abilities, but if you’re new to owning chickens, you may be wondering just how many chickens you’ll need for your homestead’s needs.
If you’ve been noticing the rising egg costs in the store, you may have decided to add a chicken flock to your property. Chickens are one of the easiest animals to care for and can provide entertainment and a fun, homegrown product. They are a great way to start raising some of your own food! But what is that magic number of chickens that your family needs to own to sustain your egg needs? This post will talk about that and the factors that play a role into that perfect number of chickens your family needs.
Table of Contents
- How many chickens does my family need?
- Final Thoughts
- Make sure you save this!
- Looking for more about laying hens?
- Ready to start your own homestead?
How many chickens does my family need?
On average, a mature chicken lays one egg every 24-26 hours, meaning that they can lay around 4-6 eggs per week. A family of four that consumes one dozen eggs per week will need at a minimum 3-4 chickens to sustain your family’s needs. Chickens are also flock animals, which means they prefer to be with other chickens, so fewer than 3 chickens is not recommended.
Different factors contribute to a chicken’s egg laying abilities, which changes how many eggs chickens lay throughout the year and their lifetime. Those factors include:
- Breed of Chicken
- Age of Chicken
- Time of Year
Chicken breeds you’ll need for maximum egg production
I have another post here where I go into a detail about different chicken breeds and explain which are best for egg production. If you’re looking for more details on any of those breeds, you’ll want to check it out.
Read Top Chicken Breeds for Egg Production
To make things simple, I’ll share which breeds are the best egg layers in the chart below. Then, we can talk about how many chickens you’ll need for your family and the needs of your homestead.
| Chicken Breed | Average Number of Eggs per Chicken Each Week | Minimum Number of Chickens You’ll Need for a Family of Four (1 dozen eggs per week) | Minimum Number of Chickens You’ll Need for a Family of Six (2 dozen eggs per week) |
| Red Star/ Sex Links | ~6 eggs | 3 chickens | 5 chickens |
| White Leghorns, Rhode Island Red, Australorp | ~5 eggs | 3 chickens | 5 chickens |
| Sussex | ~4 eggs | 3-4 chickens | 5-6 chickens |
Age of your chickens and its role in egg production
Chicken age is another factor when considering how many chickens you’ll need for your family. If you buy chicks, for example, you aren’t going to get any eggs until the hen is at the earliest 4.5 months old. If you buy pullets, you can expect to get eggs sooner, as the bird is already further along its life cycle.
As egg-laying chickens age, they will begin to produce fewer and fewer eggs. This will also play a role in determining how many chickens you’ll need for your family. Many chickens peak egg production at around 7.5 months old, and then egg production will gradually decrease after that. You will still get eggs, just not as many as you were getting in their prime years. Many chickens lay eggs until they are 6-8 years old.
Time of the year and its role in egg production
Chickens go through a rest period each year in which they stop laying eggs to instead put their energy into feather regrowth. This process is called molting. Your hen might lose some feathers and look pretty terrible during this time, as she will lose her old feathers to make room for the new ones that are to grow. With all her energy being put towards new feather growth, she won’t have any energy left to make eggs, so expect a lull in production during this time. Feeding your chickens a diet that is high in protein can help them as they work to produce new feathers.
Molting is caused by the lessening of daylight/sunlight hours, which means you will normally see your hens begin to molt in the fall. You can expect the molting process to last 8-12 weeks, which is part of the reason why you’ll see less egg production during the winter.
Increasing egg production in winter
One way that many farmers help increase their egg production in winter is by supplementing light. Adding extra light for just a few hours per day during the dark winter season can help improve egg production dramatically.
Final Thoughts
As you’re trying to determine how many chickens you’ll need for your family’s needs, try to remember that things are probably going to need to be evaluated each year. You’ll need to ask yourself if your chickens are older, and if so, what are you going to do to keep egg production where you need it for your family? Then, you’ll have to make another hard decision of what to do with the older chickens. Will you be able to handle the amount of chickens you’re hoping to get? Is this a sustainable option for you?
After all things considered, you’ll be able to make your final decision as to how many chickens you’ll need for your homestead.
Make sure you save this!
I hope you found this post useful! If you did, I’d really appreciate it if you’d take a quick minute to share and pin this to Pinterest.
Looking for more about laying hens?
Check out these posts here.
Ready to start your own homestead?
Check out these resources!
- HOW TO LIVE A HOMESTEAD LIFESTYLE- EVEN WITHOUT A HOMESTEAD
- HOMESTEADING SKILLS THAT CAN SAVE YOU MONEY
- HOMESTEAD CHECKLIST FOR STARTING A HOMESTEAD
- WHAT 200 HOMESTEADERS WISH THEY WOULD’VE KNOWN WHEN THEY STARTED
- HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HOMESTEADING IN WISCONSIN
- HOW TO BECOME A HOMESTEADER: HOW THESE FAMILIES STARTED THEIR OWN MODERN DAY HOMESTEADS
Thanks for the information!
You are so welcome!
This is super helpful, I hope one day we are able to have chickens!
I’m glad you found it helpful! Thanks for stopping by!