Dh encouraged me to order new chicks now that the raccoon massacre of 2017 seems to be over.
i was very conservative and only ordered 18, but the hatchery only put 17 in the box, and one didn't make it, so I have 16 peeping fluff balls in my barn.
When they grow up I will be back to 27 chickens (20-25 hens), which is a good number I guess. At one point I had 45, (my coop is big enough for a maximum of 60) but I was selling eggs regularly, and I'm not doing that anymore.
the reason I don't know how many hens I will have is because some breeds are only sold straight run - boys and girls mixed at random and no way to tell until they grow a bit. And because I have one (one - lol!) farm hatched chick. There is an expression "like a hen with one chick" and if you could see my broody hen, you would understand. Helicopter mom and fire breathing dragon rolled into one!