How to strike a balance between healthy chickens and saving on feed?

[lazy gardener]

A pint is 2 cups. I think a liquid pint would be about a pound. A pint of something dry, depending on how dense it is would weigh more or less than a pound. ie: comparing a pint of sand to a pint of marshmallows.

 

[EMS83]

Thanks for the food for thought! Especially about breeds and predators. I don't want to lose birds, but I don't want to never let them out for fear of predators, either. I want the chickens to be reasonably healthy, I want at least 70% egg rate from the 6 birds, and I want monthly costs to be equal to or cheaper than our current cost of eggs. Definite bonuses would be the general experience, the better quality eggs, and the fertilizer. I'm not showing them, or keeping them as pets, or trying to sell anything. I completely respect those things, but it's just not where my goals lie.

Start up would be written off. Feed costs could also be averaged over the year; that's acceptable. So if it cost $5/month in summer and $20/month in winter, that would be fine. I just keep reading about people spending $100, $200 on feed each month (or week!!) and that would most certainly break the bank. Because I know next to nothing, I don't know if this is because of the size of the flock, a lack of foraging, the type of feed (organic?), or if feed is really just that expensive. When I started buying in bulk, it was hard to get the ball rolling, but once I did, it stretched our dollars. I'm having a hard time discerning if chickens would be like that, or if they're something that would just end up costing more and more.

Our current yard is broadleaf weeds, St. Augustine and Centipede grass, wild onions, and maybe some clover here and there. I'm not a landscaper, so if my yard is ever manicured, it would be an accident. But since they aren't happening here, I don't know what the forage would be like. I wouldn't be opposed to sowing and planting forage for them, if it came back each year. The ordinance is a bummer. A coop would be possible, but near the house, and my husband would almost assuredly veto that. I was wanting a coop/run set up next to my garden, but it's too close to our line.

And I misread the 1 1/2 figure, sorry. I think I'm overloading my information circuits. I appreciate all the advice and welcome more thoughts and comments! I'll keep reading and crunching numbers. I believe we'd have to be in a better position to move somewhere with more land, so maybe by then we can just have room for a chicken line on our budget.

 

[Percheron chick]

If you've got time, you can dramatically reduce your startup costs looking for building materials, a finished coop and even chickens on CL or driving around the neighborhood. Keep an eye out for a small shed someone wants out of their backyard, remodelers throw out gobs of perfectly good wood, siding, paneling, windows.... The company behind me has been getting new equipment in and it comes in about 8x8x4 crates. Perfect to use as the blueprint of a coop. I also pulled 600' of 4' chainlink fence out of another dumpster that has made a strong predator proof run. Old cars and horsetrailers can make decent coops with a little imagination.

As far as which breeds to have, for their comfort, make sure they are breeds that can tolerate the heat and humidity. Australorps, being black cold hardy chickens wouldn't be my first choice. I do love my BR but spend some time educating yourself about all the wonderful and colorful breeds out there.

 

[flockanuts]

Just a quick FYI, my chicken "coop" is a very old re-outfitted camper trailer. Works great, have 12 hens and 1 roo,

 

[Dreyadin]

70% egg rate?
Something to consider- do you have enough room for 6 birds to forage? If you have something like a chicken tractor- it will need to be moved rather frequently. They're not gentle and will strip a location of foliage fast and it takes awhile to recover. (4 of mine could have 100sq. ft down to dirt in a week. lol Like nothing grows back 2 years later in that spot.)

Don't forget to figure in the cost of bedding, grit, oyster shells- and leave some leeway for worming/ meds- as at some point issues happen. When looking at breeds- check general age of maturity too. If you are getting chicks and the breed matures late- that's more cost. Take this in to consideration.

Timing.. as in chickens will stop laying for certain periods of time. They stop when molting, short daylight hours, sickness. If you want them laying in winter- that will require supplimental lighting for most- so electric costs or going a few months without eggs.

Foraging does cut down on commercial food they eat- but they also waste a lot. Rough ballpark.. 4oz. per bird per day (more for larger breeds.) So 6 birds for 4 weeks- at least 36 pounds of food. Price will vary- organic will be more expensive- by us non-organic.. it is about $16 for 50 pounds.

To get chickens and think you'll offset the budget for the cheap conventional mass produced eggs- you won't. You can't. That's achieved only through volume on a huge scale. If your budget is $4 per dozen.. you might be close if you average it out.

Some breeds don't lay as well as they get older. So also figure in replacing the birds in a few years.

Like someone else said earlier.. if you are looking for quality eggs- you get what you put into it. If you are thinking this will be a cheaper alternative- not likely.

 

[pwand]

Thanks for the food for thought!  Especially about breeds and predators.  I don't want to lose birds, but I don't want to never let them out for fear of predators, either.  I want the chickens to be reasonably healthy, I want at least 70% egg rate from the 6 birds, and I want monthly costs to be equal to or cheaper than our current cost of eggs.  Definite bonuses would be the general experience, the better quality eggs, and the fertilizer.  I'm not showing them, or keeping them as pets, or trying to sell anything.  I completely respect those things, but it's just not where my goals lie.

Start up would be written off.  Feed costs could also be averaged over the year; that's acceptable.  So if it cost $5/month in summer and $20/month in winter, that would be fine.  I just keep reading about people spending $100, $200 on feed each month (or week!!) and that would most certainly break the bank.  Because I know next to nothing, I don't know if this is because of the size of the flock, a lack of foraging, the type of feed (organic?), or if feed is really just that expensive.  When I started buying in bulk, it was hard to get the ball rolling, but once I did, it stretched our dollars.  I'm having a hard time discerning if chickens would be like that, or if they're something that would just end up costing more and more.

Our current yard is broadleaf weeds, St. Augustine and Centipede grass, wild onions, and maybe some clover here and there.  I'm not a landscaper, so if my yard is ever manicured, it would be an accident.  But since they aren't happening here, I don't know what the forage would be like.  I wouldn't be opposed to sowing and planting forage for them, if it came back each year.  The ordinance is a bummer.  A coop would be possible, but near the house, and my husband would almost assuredly veto that.  I was wanting a coop/run set up next to my garden, but it's too close to our line.

And I misread the 1 1/2 figure, sorry.  I think I'm overloading my information circuits.  I appreciate all the advice and welcome more thoughts and comments!  I'll keep reading and crunching numbers.  I believe we'd have to be in a better position to move somewhere with more land, so maybe by then we can just have room for a chicken line on our budget. 

We had our coop close to our house without any issue, it was two feet away. Our nasty neighbour complained and we moved it about three years later. We turned the soil here and there to cut the smell down. Setup a container under the birds at night to collect the poop to dispose of when needed. Makes the coop so much cleaner and lower cleaning maintenance. don't use a heat lamp, don't need a fire. Chickens are not expensive to have. If its egg production, I have bought ready to lay pullets for $12 a bird at 19 weeks old, thats the easiest and they soon start laying. I don't have a light on in my coop for supplement and they are laying continuous. I replace my birds with them last January with the ready to lay birds. I also raised Columbia Rocks this spring, and their all continuously laying this winter, without a light. I live in BC Canada were we hardly see sun all winter, it rains most of that time. First year is the best for laying, second year not so bad, then you could replace them all again. I have six birds in total and my feed costs me $15 a month for the 50lb bag of layer crumble. If you choose to get ready to lay birds, dust them for mites and deworm them. My cousin has a commercial egg production and he gets the Leghorns as ready to lay pullets. He said they eat less feed than the other commercial birds. He has his cost figured out to the penny. Once you have your own eggs, you will never want any from the store. having chickens are fun and does not break the bank.

Edited: I should mention i am on a 1/3 of an acre, mine has a big run outside and don't free range. So that is the price it cost to feed them each month. They also need grit and oyster shells for supplement. A bag of each will last a long time. So the commercial birds will eat less, cost less and also are vaccinated against Marek's disease. My columbia rocks are huge compare to my Bovan Browns (commercial birds) and they eat a lot. These Commercial Brown egg layers has a lovely gently temperament, they are great for first time birds. I haven't had leghorns before, so I am not sure about there temperaments, especially at 19 weeks old.

 

[EMS83]

Percheron and pwand, those are great ideas, thanks! It gives me hope. Dreyadin, I've got at least 3/4 of an acre fenced. I'm not sure if our whole property is just a little over an acre or closer to 1 1/2, but most of it is in the back and fenced. I'd consider composting in the run, if the run were permanent. Which it would be, if I didn't have that law to consider. Well I guess I'll just have to collect knowledge (and maybe materials) instead of eggs right now. And simply decrease our consumption to match the rising prices in the meantime. Like I said, perhaps in the future we can find more land.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I apologize if this topic is covered a lot. I'm a newbie just perusing the forums. It's sounding like the highest monthly chicken cost is feed. I would plan on free-ranging chickens as much of the day as possible. I am home a lot, but not always able to be vigilant of my yard. I also live in west-central Georgia. So with the climate here and the free-ranging...what could I get by with feeding half a dozen laying hens to help them stay healthy, but not break the bank? I'm looking to replace white grocery store eggs in our diet without increasing (preferably decreasing) our monthly egg-related costs. I know this is a tall order and I'm curious if it's even possible. For what it's worth, based on a very cursory glance ad a few charts, I'm looking at Austorlorpe or Plymouth Rock breeds (any comments on that are welcome as well).

Thanks so much for any input.

I haven't read the others' responses yet, but here is mine:

From my experience, you will go through about a 50 lb bag of feed a month with 6 chickens. Of course in the summer they will eat less if you can feed grass clippings (2-3 inches long at most) or free range.

Your keeping chickens will be more expensive than store bought eggs unless you currently buy organic eggs.

Black Australorps are great! I have some and love them.

You will want to keep them in a covered run unless you are guarding them in the yard, otherwise you will lose some to hawks/raccoons during the day.

Only 1/2 inch hardware cloth is predator-proof and it will need to be buried or aproned out along the bottom of the fence line to make a predator-proof small run. I just close them up in the coop at night and don't worry about predator-proof during the day. But I have had cats, dogs, hawks, owls, and racoons trying to kill my chickens. Sometimes they were successful. So if I were going to work all day away from home, then I would definitely build a coop/run that was predator proof. Then you can let them out for fun time when you are in the yard.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/small-chicken-coop-designs-pictures-of-chicken-coops
Here is the small coops section...you can see how a lot of people did their coops and run so that the chickens can come and go from the coop and run day and night since they made the whole thing predator proof. If you don't have the predator-proof run then you absolutely must close them up at night in the coop.

 

[Beekissed]

I apologize if this topic is covered a lot. I'm a newbie just perusing the forums. It's sounding like the highest monthly chicken cost is feed. I would plan on free-ranging chickens as much of the day as possible. I am home a lot, but not always able to be vigilant of my yard. I also live in west-central Georgia. So with the climate here and the free-ranging...what could I get by with feeding half a dozen laying hens to help them stay healthy, but not break the bank? I'm looking to replace white grocery store eggs in our diet without increasing (preferably decreasing) our monthly egg-related costs. I know this is a tall order and I'm curious if it's even possible. For what it's worth, based on a very cursory glance ad a few charts, I'm looking at Austorlorpe or Plymouth Rock breeds (any comments on that are welcome as well).

Thanks so much for any input.

You need these threads....for better health and the lowest cost. Good choice on breeds but I'd stick with the White Rocks over the other varieties of Rocks and the BAs are an excellent choice!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/644300/fermenting-feed-for-meat-birds

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/645057/fermented-feeds-anyone-using-them