amount of feed

[enola]

If I buy 6 RIR chicks (hens) from TS this spring, how much feed can I expect them to eat before they are old enough to lay eggs ?

 

[RendonRoo]

Biggest problem i've had is controlling waste. Chicks waste food if you let them. There is lots of advise here to help with that. If your trying to buy enough feed at one time to raise them to adults I wouldn't suggest "stocking up" Feed is best if kept fresh so i wouldn't buy more than 50 lbs at a time. With 6 chicks that should last at least a month. Good Luck and welcome to BYC

 

[enola]

I was just wondering how much feed they would eat by laying age. I answered an ad yesterday for some laying hens (30 to 36 weeks old). He wanted $15 apiece for them. I am wondering if that is a little steep ?!

 

[chickbea]

What breed of hens are they?

 

[enola]

Barred Rocks
Wyandottes
Rhode Island Red
Comets
Ameracanas
Easter Eggers

I think that is all the breeds he mentioned.

I just thought that $15 was a little on the high end.

 

[Teach97]

That is a fairly good price for that age hen...

 

[RendonRoo]

I see chickens on craigslist ranging from 5 to 15 dollars. I think for the rir's and e.e.'s that may be kinda high cause they are so common. If they are good healthy chicks that souldn't be to far out of line. Good Luck.

 

[Wynette]

$15 sounds high to me, but it really does depend on you location, and availability (supply/deman). Around here, you can buy layers all day long for $5/ea.

 

[chickbea]

It does depend on the area of the country that you live in. Here in Vermont, from late fall throughout the winter the paper is full of ads for free laying hens because no one wants to house and feed them through the less productive months. However, in the early spring when most people have only older birds and/or chicks and they aren't getting many eggs from their own flock, I have seen good layers going for $10-$15.
If you are buying in bulk maybe you can get a better deal that way...
Of course, it's always more fun to raise your own chicks -

 

[briteday]

In my area people want egg layers for $5 but most generally I see pullets selling for $10-15 if they are at point of lay or already laying. The problem I see with "already laying" is that it can be difficult to tell how old the hen is, and how much longer you will get eggs reliably from her.

Since we have a lot of people in our area who want egg layers, I buy extra day old sexed chicks at the feed store, raise them to about 6-8 weeks of age, and sell them for $5-7.

I actually worked out the cost of raising a hen to point of lay. If I buy the chick for $2.50 - 3, feed it for 20 weeks, the cost wrks out to around $12. And that doesn't include the initial vitamins/electrolytes, brooder care and electricity for brooder lamp, anything else they eat besides bagged feed, and my time / effort.