I did say most families. I guess if you routinely buy three dozen eggs/week you will need more than six girls. Coaledsweat, you're right about the eggs getting bigger. The older birds often laid eggs that make store bought jumbo look small. Their eggs wouldn't even fit in an egg carton, and we got a lot of triple yolks. Of course at that stage production also goes down. I usually bought six chicks every Easter from The Tractor Supply. I usually lost a couple to raccoons and hawks during the year. When the flock got too big the older birds were supposed to be retired to the kitchen, but that didn't always happen. I think the most we ever had at one time was 22 birds. Swapadon, nice link to that article. Good info there. I might also add, a friend lost a breeding bull and a heifer when they got into some yew bushes. They are very toxic, I don't know if chickens would eat the berries or not.
Here are a couple of the 'coons that thought they liked fresh chicken. It wouldn't be so bad if they killed one and ate it, but I have had them kill a dozen birds at one time and only eat half of one bird.
Raising Chickens...Info/Advice/Help
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I buy my eggs from a farm down the street, easy and cheap!